Harry Potter and the Titan's Burden
by Tardis28
Summary: Harry has to find a different way out of the Chamber of Secrets after the fight with the Basilisk. What he finds is a centuries old secret that will challenge everything he knew about his place in the universe. How will he deal with the burden of his knowledge?
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the Marvel Universe. If I did I would be a much richer man. All credit goes to JK Rowling and the fine folks at Disney and Marvel. Thanks for letting me use the characters in my story.

*AUTHORS NOTE*: I know it says this is a crossover but the vast majority of it is taking place in the Potter universe with bits of Marvel sprinkled in.

Prologue

Thanos was so close. Just a few more steps and he would have it.

The energy barrier chafed and burned against his skin but he could not be denied in this moment. He was invincible and nothing would stop him from his quest. Not Stark, not the Avengers, not even the witch in front of him.

The stones on his wrist whispered urgently in his mind, anxious to be reunited with their final sibling.

Finally, after all these years he would have them all…

_*Crack*_

The explosion washed over Thanos like a dry desert wind. It wasn't painful, barely an tickle to the massive titan, but it still drove the air from his lungs.

The Mind Stone. Destroyed.

Everything stopped. In that moment, all his plans burned in front of his eyes.

With only 5 stones, he could not perform his destiny, his purpose, his great contribution to the universe.

Everything Gone.

He grimly watched as the broken shards of the Mind stone rained down around him like confetti, taunting him. His mind whirled. He looked at the woman sitting on the ground.

"_I understand my child. More than anyone._" Thanos said

"_You could never_" she whispered at him

"_Today, I lost more than you can know_"

He glanced briefly at his wrist, and then was struck by an idea.

He may be defeated.

But he wasn't done yet. Not by a long shot

"_But now is no time to mourn. Now is no time at all_"

He activated the time stone.

She stared vacantly at him as he reversed the flow of time around them. Thanos grabbed the newly repaired Vision by the neck. He barely even noticed the android's struggle as he pulled the stone from its forehead.

Finally.

With reverence, Thanos dropped the final stone into his gauntlet.

Power like nothing he had ever felt coursed through him.

Multi colored energy raced up his arm and into his chest. He felt it exploding through him like a supernova. It pulled at his soul, attempting to assert dominance over him. He knew that if his will faltered, even for a second, he would be destroyed, his body and soul turned to ash.

But he would not be denied. Not now. He was now a god.

He raised his fingers, about to snap his fingers and complete his mission…

A sickening thud echoed throughout the trees.

Thanos weakly looked down at the axe that extended out of his neck, and the enraged Norse god on the other end of it.

"_I told you_" Thor spat driving the axe further into Thanos's windpipe, "_that you would die for that._"

Thanos weakly attempted to raise his hand but failed.

Like all living creatures when they are mortally wounded and deprived of air, Thanos's thoughts became a haze of panic. All thoughts of his mission were driven from his mind as one thought consumed him: He needed to get away from here and find air.

Now most creatures have this exact thought on their death beds, and it usually makes no difference to their overall fates

But most creatures weren't wearing all six infinity stones on their wrist.

Thanos felt the stones activate as he began to fall backwards.

* * *

Thor looked around confused.

One second, his axe had been imbedded in the throat of the giant purple monster that had almost wiped out the universe. Now he was gone, leaving the axe lying on the jungle floor.

Thor looked up, half expecting Thanos to be hiding in the trees waiting to strike.

Nothing. All was quiet

Thor could see his allies emerging from the trees: A man in a panther suit, Banner, Steve, even Groot and the Rabbit were there. They all looked as confused as him.

"_Thor_" said Steve, "_Where did he go?_"

* * *

Thanos landed with a boom onto the hard unforgiving ground. His ruined throat let out a wet gurgle.

It was colder here. He found himself laying on the edge of a large forest.

In the distance, he could see a great castle extending towards the sky and four figures hurrying towards him. Two men and two women, each holding a short length of wood that they brandished at him as they approached.

"Explain yourself creature" the taller man in red roared "How did you get past Hogwarts's boundaries!"

"Godric be still" the woman in yellow snapped. "Look at its throat. Whatever it is, it's clearly dying."

"Dying or not, Helga, it could still be dangerous. Your kindness will be the death of us all one day." The man in green sneered.

"I'll just have to have enough for both of us then, won't I" Helga shot back. She knelt next to Thanos's head.

"Can we help you somehow?"

He attempted to slide the gauntlet towards her.

Thanos managed to utter a few words "Protect…infinity…stones. Balance…"

He did not speak again.

And so it was that the mad titan Thanos expired next to a magical castle in a universe that was very different from his own.

End of Prologue


	2. A Fight to the Death

*Disclaimer*: I own nothing

Chapter 1

The massive metal door gave a low squeal as it glided inwards. Harry Potter gave a furtive glance around as he cautiously stepped inside. He did not want to meet the monster that lived here if he could avoid it.

The Chamber of Secrets was dominated by a massive statute standing along the far wall. It was at least 20 meters high, and badly worn due to age and the dampness of the chamber. It depicted the ugliest man Harry had ever seen and he had seen his uncle come home after an all-night bender.

The ceilings of the Chamber soared above him, disappearing into the darkness and gloom without stopping. Long shadows were cast onto the walls from an even light that emanated from everywhere and nowhere.

At the base of the statue, almost hidden between its legs, lay a tiny, redhead shape. Ginny.

Abandoning any sense of caution, Harry broke into a run. His footsteps echoed loudly throughout the Chamber as he raced towards Ginny.

He arrived at her, casting aside his wand in order to grip her shoulders and look at her.

"Ginny" he near shouted as he shook her "Ginny, wake up!"

She didn't respond, her face deathly pale and limp.

He looked around in a blind panic, trying to work out how he would get Ginny out of here. He had to get her to Madam Pomfrey. He supposed he could carry her out on his shoulders but then he would have to…

"She won't wake you know"

Harry nearly jumped out of his skin as he spun around.

A man who definitely had not been there before was standing next to him. He had a handsome, pale face and his body was ever so slightly transparent. Like a ghost, when Harry looked at him straight on he disappeared but he could see him out of the corner of his eye. He held Harry's wand in his right hand.

He was slightly older than the last time Harry had seen him, but there was no mistaking him

"Tom Riddle? What are you doing here? What do you mean she won't wake?"

"I mean that I won't let her wake. I still have need of her."

"What did you do to her?"

Riddle looked cruelly at Ginny. "It's not what I did to her, but what she did to herself. She poured her heart into me and told me of all her problems, telling me all about her brothers teasing her, having to come to school in old clothing. About how her crush has no idea she exists." "When she opened her heart to me, I was able to place some of myself in her."

"Soon I will rise and she will fall."

Harry's head swam. "Ghosts can't do that."

"Your right, Ghosts can't affect the living in such a way but I'm not a ghost."

"Then what are you?" Harry asked, a hint of fear in his voice.

"A memory … preserved in the diary for the last fifty years."

He gestured, and for the first time Harry noticed the small black book that Ginny had in a death grip.

"I don't understand"

"I didn't expect you to Harry." Riddle sneered "You see, the original creator of this diary left a part of himself inside of it when he left this place."

"He put me here so that I could continue the glorious work, purging this place of the mudblood filth that has so tainted its walls. And when everything was done, when only the pure remain, people would worship the name of Voldemort!"

Horror filled Harry. It all made sense, the blood fanaticism, the snakes, even the scene in the diary with Dumbledore.

"Your Voldemort!" Harry shouted

"Very good Harry, I thought I would have to spell it out for you. But if you have figured out that, you must also realize that you will not be leaving this chamber alive. After all, one good turn deserves another and you destroyed me once."

He turned away from Harry to face the statue and raised his arms.

"**Speak to me Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four**!" he incanted in Parseltongue.

With a low roar, the wall between the statute's legs began to descend downwards into the floor like a massive door.

Riddle turned back to Harry with a smug expression on his face. "Goodbye Harry. I will so enjoy watching you die."

He disappeared as the door rumbled to a stop.

* * *

Harry could only stare stunned at the gaping space between the statues legs.

A sudden movement caused him to dive to the side behind a pillar.

Something enormous slithered out from inside the statue.

It sounded like a thousand soldiers in metal armor scraping across the uneven floor. Harry didn't dare look in the Basilisk's direction for fear that he may catch its gaze and die.

The creature stopped moving in what sounded like the center of the room. Harry didn't dare take a breath.

"**Kill Him**" Riddle's voice thundered across the cavern.

The snake struck. Harry dodged out of the way as its massive body demolished the pillar where he had been standing.

It struck again, this time crushing the floor where he had been standing. Harry ran for his life, eyes tightly shut, zig-zagging his way across the floor. Every few seconds, the Basilisk thundered down where he had been a moment before.

They played this game for what seemed like hours as Riddle's laughter echoed across the chamber and into Harry's ears.

A loose stone caught Harry's foot and he went sprawling on the floor. He lay, stunned, as the snake sounded like it was winding up for the killing blow.

"Well that's that. At least it will be quick" Harry thought morosely in his mind.

Suddenly a loud, clear cry echoed throughout the chamber. Harry hear the Basilisk scream in pain, and felt a piece of fabric hit him in the chest.

Despite himself, Harry opened his eyes.

First he looked down at his lap. He saw the Sorting Hat sitting on his chest. Then he looked up.

The Basilisk was even larger than he had thought, large enough to swallow a double decker bus without flinching.

Flying around its head was a bright red bird with razor sharp talons. Fawkes!

The Basilisk roared again and turned its head towards Harry. His eyes inadvertently met the eyes of the monster…

Only to discover that its eyes had been destroyed and were crying blood. The Basilisk was blind!

Harry attempted to get to his feet and was almost knocked unconscious by something hard striking him on the crown of his head. He ripped the hat off his head only to discover that the sword of Gryffindor was laying inside the hat. Mystified, but with bigger problems, Harry grasped the sword and pulled it from the hat.

He painfully got to his feet and discovered he had a new problem. The snake was blindly thrashing around, destroying large parts of the Chamber in the process.

Fawkes went in for another pass at the snake, only to get crushed between its head and a pillar. He burst into flames, and fell to the ground as a hatchling.

"Great" Harry thought "If I don't die because of the snake like Fawkes, I can be crushed by the Great Hall."

The thought of Crabbe or Goyle crushing him to death after they had had desert jolted him into action.

The snake lunged again, this time striking the wall directly above the metal door, sending an avalanche of stone and metal down to cover the entrance.

Staring at the rubble, Harry had an idea. It was a crazy, borderline suicidal plan but it was all he had. He ran back over to Ginny and began to search her robes. Hoping against hope that it was still there, that Riddle hadn't taken it…

Finding her wand, Harry turned and moved back towards the door. He used the levitation spell to life the largest piece of rubble he could find.

He floated it over to the Basilisk and hovered it above its head. He had to get this just right…

The basilisk began to slow its thrashing and come to a rest. Sensing his moment, Harry canceled the spell dropping the boulder directly onto the snake's skull.

The Basilisk let out a monstrous scream. Harry quickly levitated another piece of masonry into the creatures gaping mouth, sending fangs and blood in every direction.

The snake gagged and sputtered on the large rock, giving Harry an opportunity to smash a third rock into its ruined eyes.

The creature collapsed to the floor, stunned.

Harry moved quickly over it, and stabbed it through the top of its skull. It let out one final gurgle and lay still. He pulled the sword free

"I was about out of rocks" Harry said to himself half deliriously

"Well well" said the voice of Tom next to him "You survived." The annoyed figure sprang into existence next to Harry.

"No matter. Soon I will be whole enough to deal with you myself."

Harry knew Riddle was somehow connected to the diary. Destroying the damn thing must do something right? He spotted a broken fang laying next to Ginny who was still holding the diary.

Harry ran through Tom, who was still not entirely solid. He skidded to a stop on his knees next to Ginny. Ripping the book from her arms, he stabbed it through the front cover with the fang. Ink poured from its pages like a wound.

Tom let out a terrible scream. A large hole had appeared in the center of his chest. Harry raised the fang again and stabbed the book in a different spot.

Tom's screams got even more frantic before they vanished completely. He vanished into thin air, leaving nothing behind but a faint scream.

Harry grinned triumphantly before slumping to the ground unconscious next to Ginny.

* * *

Harry was awoken by the sounds of sobbing.

He saw the huddled form of Ginny, sitting next to him in the fetal position and rocking. He reached out to and placed a hand on her shoulder, only for her to scream.

"Harry?" she asked tearfully "I thought you were dead."

"Not yet" he said.

"Can you walk? We have to get out of here"

Ginny gave a small nod and allowed him to pull her to her feet. Harry slowly walked around the snake to where the infant Fawkes was resting. The tiny creatures let out a soft cry as Harry picked him up.

The trio walked towards the entrance only to be greeted by the massive pile of rubble that used to be the door. It would take a team of 10 wizards hours to move the pile enough to create an opening.

They didn't have 10 wizards, and from the look of Ginny's slowly swaying form, they didn't have hours.

Harry spied a piece of metal that had become wedged under one of the largest pieces of wall. He could maybe use it as a lever in order to wedge a small opening, but it would only be big enough for a tiny person. Even he might be too large. Somebody would also have to stay on the other side to hold it up.

He knew what he had to do.

He turned and handed Fawkes to Ginny. "Ok here is what we are going to do. I'm going to push down on that piece of metal to make an opening. You crawl through with Fawkes."

"What about you?" She asked

"Somebody has to stay here to hold it open. You go through that corridor, find Ron and go get help."

Ginny looked very skeptical of this plan but was really in no condition to argue. She crouched down in front of the pile and gave Harry a nod. He pushed down with all his might on the lever.

Ginny began to crawl as fast as she was able through the newly formed tunnel.

"I'm through" she called out after a few seconds. Harry let the lever fall and the entire pile shifted down destroying the tunnel.

"Are you alright?" she called out worriedly.

"I'm fine." he said. "Go find Ron, I will be fine here. Go!"

Her footsteps got fainter and fainter until they vanished all together.

Harry was all alone with the dead Basilisk and destroyed diary.

It suddenly occurred to him that it could be many hours, maybe even days, before someone could reach him. He suddenly wanted out of here very, very badly.

He turned around and saw the still open door between the statues legs. It had to lead somewhere right? Maybe he could get out sooner than help could arrive.

He knew what his friend Hermione would say that he should wait here for the teachers or the ministry to arrive. But she wasn't the one trapped in a dark cavern half a mile below ground with a corpse.

"Better than hanging out around here for hours" he muttered to himself.

He grabbed a fang, and scooped up the torn diary, before descending into the darkness of the open door.


	3. Another Way Out

*AUTHOR'S NOTE*: Wow! 150 follows in less than week! Thank you guys so much, this is my first fic and I was really nervous about posting. Thank you guys for the confidence booster! Please leave a review if you enjoy the story.

We get more into the meat of the plot in this chapter so please enjoy!

Chapter 2:

Unfortunately, the inside of the statue was exactly what Harry had expected.

He was standing in a massive, mostly empty cavern that seemed to stretch on forever. Water cascaded down the smooth limestone walls from some unknown source, gathering in pools on the floor, before falling through another large hole set in the floor.

Bones of unknown animals littered the floor around him, some much too large to have been anything that could have been found in the Chamber. Harry could swear that he thought he saw dinosaur bones against one wall, but it was too dark to tell.

There was no ceiling to speak of, just more gloom that seemed to stretch above him for miles. The cavern was much, much bigger than it had any right to be considering it was inside a statue which was itself inside an underground chamber. As he looked up, Harry got the strange feeling that he was at the bottom of some huge dry well.

"It's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside" Harry said with awe

It was beautiful, in a dank underground way, but there was one glaring problem with it.

There was no way out.

Harry could see no visible exits, tunnels, or cracks in the walls. No indentations in the walls that could be used as handholds. In fact, the walls looked as though they had been intentionally smoothed out as to prevent climbing. The only other exit that he could see besides the door he had come in was the massive hole in the floor that he presumed the Basilisk had come out of.

Harry turned around and made to leave, not having the slightest inclination of going down the hole and probably facing another giant snake.

Unfortunately, at that moment, as if on cue, the massive door began to smoothly slide upwards back into place. Before he could do anything but blink, the door rumbled shut

The cavern was plunged into absolute, oppressive darkness. Up until that moment, he had never experienced true darkness before. Even when he was locked in his cupboard in the dead of night, or deep in the Forbidden Forest there had always been some light.

Harry began to hyperventilate. The darkness seemed to drive the air from his lungs and replace it was ash. He began to hack and wheeze violently.

He fumbled for the wand and quickly lit it. The light from his wand was dim, as if the darkness was trying to swallow it whole.

He raised it, scanning the cavern. There was still no way out.

He turned and repeated the phrase that Riddle had used earlier on the door. Nothing happened. It appeared that only worked on the statue from the outside.

A horrible realization dawned upon Harry: nobody was coming to look for him. Even if Ginny, Ron, and the memory-less Lockhart could get out of the Chamber, it could be days before they moved all that rubble. Also, because he had entered the statue nobody knew where he was. However, even if they did know where he was he was the only one capable of opening the door.

"Nice going Potter," he thought angrily, "You just killed yourself"

With a sinking feeling, Harry realized that he was probably going to have to go down the hole in the middle of the room. It currently represented his only possible hope of escape before he starved to death.

Feeling a sense of doom, Harry moved to the edge of the hole and illuminated it with his wand. There was nothing he could see, just water flowing down the hole and disappearing. He couldn't even hear it splash against the bottom.

Harry sighed. This was going to be a long day.

Harry was just contemplating how far he would have to fall before he was turned into a pancake when something caught the corner of his eye.

Up against the far wall was a series of carvings that threw odd shadows across the floor. Harry moved to investigate before he stopped in his tracks. He could not believe it.

Stairs.

They were carved out of the wall of the cavern. In the even light from outside, they would have been almost invisible even when looking directly at them. Only in the light from his wand did they give off any shadows.

Harry stopped at the base of the stairs and tested the first one. They were tiny, barely big enough for him to put both feet on at the same time. They also extended hundreds of feet into the air with no guardrail of any kind. One wrong step at that height…

Harry took a second to consider his options. It was either go up the stairs or go back to the hole and see where that went.

With a deep shudder, Harry began to climb the stairs.

* * *

45 minutes later, Harry was seriously wishing that he had chosen the hole. At least whatever monster lived there could have made his death quick. The stairs just kept going and going and going…

The fight with the basilisk was catching up with him. He hurt all over. The sword tucked in his belt felt like an anchor against his tired frame.

His legs had long ago stopped burned and settled into being frustratingly numb. This was a problem as the stairs were too narrow to stop and sit on and he had long ago lost sight of the cavern floor into the gloom. He had to look down and consciously watch his feet to make sure they landed on the right steps. The steps were slick and covered in moss from the centuries of damp conditions inside the cavern. He had to be careful or he would end at the bottom of the cavern again. The hard way.

Still the stairs went on and on

Another ten minutes and Harry began to sing to himself just to hear a voice

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Hoggy Hogwarts, teach us something please…"

Another 15 minutes and Harry was seriously wondering if he was going to grow old on these steps.

Suddenly, Harry's head collided violently with something. He saw brilliant stars and began to sway dangerously over the side of the stairs. He grabbed ahold of the wall to steady him and looked up to see the offending object.

There was a trap door.

Interlocking wood planks covered the ceiling of the cavern like a roof. Not wanting to be on the stairs a second longer than he had to, Harry pushed with all his might on the trap door. To his great relief, it swung open smoothly. Harry boosted himself into the room, slammed the trap door shut and lay on it panting.

'You aren't getting up again today' his legs told him sternly

Harry was only too happy to agree. He began to rub his much-abused legs with a groan.

He forced himself into a sitting position and got his first good look at where he was.

He was in a sitting room.

* * *

In a way, the secret room reminded Harry of a Slytherin version of the sitting room at the Burrow. It had the same shabby and worn but loved feeling he had encountered at the Weasley's, but everything was a shade of green or silver.

An assortment of mismatched chairs and couches, again all green fabric, faced a large marble fireplace with a Slytherin crest carved into it. A roaring fire was already crackling in the fire. Large portraits and tapestries adorned the wall in a variety of faded colors.

It seemed like the kind of place Hermione would get lost in for hours. Books and scrolls were piled everywhere, stacked to the ceiling in some places. One stack actually extended onto and across the ceiling to come back down across the room. Most of the chairs were inaccessible due to massive piles of books that have been strewn haphazardly across them.

A thick layer of dust lay on everything making it clear that nobody had stepped foot in this place for decades, maybe even longer. There were also no other exits except for the trapdoor he had come through.

Once he had rested for a few minutes, Harry slowly got to his feet. He took a few shaky steps in order to regain some feeling in his legs. He slowly made his way over to a large wooden door that sat in the opposite corner from the fireplace.

A small glass case sat behind the desk. Inside were a variety of objects including a group of small clay figures, a dagger with a brightly glowing emerald set into the hilt, and a human skull. Harry attempted to get into the cabinet, but it was resistant to his attempts. Giving it up as a bad deal, Harry turned his attention to the desk.

Papers and scrolls were strewn across the desk in no discernible order. Harry rifled through a few hoping to find a clue leading to an exit.

Eventually, he came across a thick book bound in scaly leather. The book sat in the middle of the desk, as if writing in it was the last thing the original owner of this desk had done.

Suddenly desperately curious, Harry picked the book up. A piece of parchment slipped out of the pages and onto the desk. He picked it up and began to read:

_Our secret is written here, and may I be forgiven in the next life for divulging it: after a lifetime of study it became clear that the Infinity Stones were too dangerous to be allowed to be used. We knew they must be hidden away forever. We entrusted the protection of the stones to our trusted allies with the instructions to travel to the ends of the earth and disappear forever. This was both our greatest mistake and our most important contribution. _

_My pride may prove to be our undoing, but I cannot in good conscience take this secret to my grave. The other founders might have thought that the stones are too dangerous to be trusted with, but I disagree. Despite their glowing optimism, I am a realist. I know that one day, long after we are gone, a threat will come along that will be so great that it will require the combined power of the Infinity Stones. This is a fact that I have foreseen. But I am not a fool. I know that a special person is required to wield the stones. _

_You have proven yourself, O Seeker of the Stones, by finding my chamber, surviving the monsters and deadly traps and breaking the enchantment on this room. If you have come this far, I must assume from my limited vantage point, that your need is truly great. This is why I have left you my personal journal and of our findings into the workings of the stones as well as any hearsay I have heard as to their location. I hope it will prove useful in your quest._

_I will be frank you Seeker, I do not trust anyone who seeks to use the stones. They corrupt too thoroughly and grant unlimited power. But I am an old man who must strive to repent for sins, and in this way I have done that. I just hope I have not doomed us all._

_Salazar Slytherin, the year of our lord 1117 AD._

Harry's head swam. The end of everything? Unlimited power? Infinity Stones? Despite not knowing of the danger the note was telling him about, he knew a dire warning when he saw one. He moved towards the hearth and held the book over the fire. This note spoke of the end of everything. He should cast this book into the fire, walk away, and take the secret of this room to his grave. That would be the smart thing to do.

The air held a pregnant pause as if the universe was waiting to see what he did.

But he couldn't bring himself to do it. It was as if an unseen force stayed his hand, compelling him to freeze. He drew the book back to his chest and the universe exhaled.

In that moment, without him knowing it, the fate of Harry Potter was sealed.

Harry felt a gust of air on his back. Tucking the book under his arm, he turned and saw one of the tapestries fluttering slightly on the wall. He moved it aside and almost cried at what he saw.

Set into the wall was a large wooden door.

* * *

An unlocking charm and a short flight of stairs later and Harry found himself outside yet another trapdoor. Harry sighed. If this was yet another dark underground chamber he was giving up and waiting for death.

Holding his breath, Harry pushed opened the trapdoor and was met with blue sky. He let out a loud whoop and scrambled out of the hole.

He was standing in the middle of the Forbidden Forest. It appeared to be early morning or maybe sunset. With a start, Harry realized that he did not know how long he had been underground.

He shut the trapdoor and marveled at how it blended perfectly into the forest floor. He needed a way to find this place again. He had a feeling that he was probably going to be coming back here again on next year's set of adventures and didn't want to have to travel through the Chamber again if he could help it.

He cast a Diffindo spell on a nearby tree, carving his initials and an arrow pointing down. He also levitated a large rock onto the exact spot of the trap door.

Figuring this was as good as it was going to get, Harry limped out of the clearing.

* * *

15 minutes later, the trees began to thin. Picking up his pace, Harry emerged from the edge of the Forbidden Forest 100 yards from Hagrid's hut.

The sight of the familiar castle filled Harry with an intense feeling of relief. It felt like so long since he had last seen the familiar spires and towers.

Harry trudged over to the hut and was about to knock on the door when he realized he was still holding the book. He knew for certain that if he made himself known while he still had it, it would be confiscated, and he would never see it again.

Harry couldn't let that happen before he had read it. He had been through too much to not even read the damn thing. He needed a hiding place.

He spied a loose brick in the side of Hagrid's house. He pulled it free, placed the book in the hole, and replaced the book. Perfect. No one ever came down here except Hagrid, and he would never think to look for books in the walls of his home.

Harry rapped loudly on the door. Fang's roaring bark could be hear immediately.

"Down Fang, ya great bloody beast. Down I say!" Hagrid's boomed. He opened the door.

"Now I told ya lot that I don't know where 'arry is and even if I did…" Hagrid's voice trailed off as he realized who was at his door.

"Arry?!"

"Hi Hagrid" Harry said with a massive grin before he passed out on the doorstep.


	4. A Search and A Rescue

Sorry about the wait you guys, Coronavirus has made life difficult. See end for AN

Chapter 3:

Albus Dumbledore was having a bad day.

It had nothing to do with his surroundings. He sitting behind the massive desk in the headmasters office at Hogwarts. It was a position that many witches and wizards would kill for in an instant. It was a position that he had craving to get back to since his removal until an hour ago when he got a panicked floo call from the head of the Board of Governors.

It had been a struggle to comprehend what the man had been saying he had been talking so fast but he got the gist:

Emergency. School under attack and being evacuated. Three students and a professor missing in a presumed attack.

Dumbledore felt his heart lodge in his throat.

The man said the next part so quietly that he had to ask him to repeat it. The wizard turned bright red and said louder: As it turned out, Lucius had been wrong about him being connected to the Chamber and attacks. Would he consider coming back and resuming his post as headmaster?

And it was that easy. After weeks of being denied even a floo connection with the Board to plead his case, he found himself reinstated as headmaster and entering his office within fifteen minutes.

He found his heads of house sitting around his desk, and instead of a friendly greeting they launched straight into the bad news.

Three students went missing last night after another message appeared on the wall near the second floor girls lavatory. And not just any students but the youngest Weasley children as well as Harry Potter.

Minerva was just finishing catching him up

"We have the students contained in their common rooms but we can't hold them there indefinitely. We have teams of professors and prefects searching the grounds but we haven't found anything yet. Not even bodies."

"Now that is odd", Dumbledore said suddenly, "the creature has left bodies every other time it has attacked. Why should this time be different?"

"So you saying that they have to be out there? Even their petrified bodies lazing about somewhere" said Severus, his tone almost smug.

Something about his tone annoyed him. Suddenly Dumbledore was in no mood for company.

"What I'm saying, is that their bodies can't just be gone. This is not how the creature operates. This means it could be something else entirely. Search the school again in pairs. Have everyone look in a different area so as not to miss anything. Send patronuses if anything happens." He barked

They jumped at his sharp words and quickly shuffled out.

Minerva hovered for a moment by the door as if to reproach him for his tone before she turned and left the office.

As soon the door shut, Dumbledore slumped as if the air had been let out of him. He buried his head in his hands.

How could it all have gone so wrong so quickly?

After the attack on Ms. Granger and Ms. Clearwater, he had thought he had control of the situation. He just had to get the students to exams and the the staff could tear the school apart looking for that blasted Chamber without putting anyone in danger.

But then that fool Lucius had to remove him and it all went to hell. When he was forced out he lost all control and information about the situation.

Now, not only was the school on the brink of collapse, Harry was missing as well.

After all the energy and work he had put into hiding him, Harry was supposed to arrive to school from his relatives in healthy and in one piece. Given his relatives background, Dumbledore had never expected him to show up completely happy or content but that was ok in the long run. Certain sacrifices had to be made for the greater good and Harry being safe was the greatest good.

That was what he had thought anyway.

He had never expected things to descend so quickly into chaos. For the second year in a row, the boy was missing, and presumably was in mortal danger. He could be anywhere on the grounds right now, probably fighting for his life…

Fawkes let out a piercing cry, startling Dumbledore out of his sorrows. The phoenix leapt off his perch, circled the ceiling a few times, and vanished in a brilliant flash of flame.

A heartbeat passed and Dumbledore was nearly thrown from his chair as the floor bucked and rocked underneath him. It was as if as the entire castle was being torn apart by an angry giant!

The floor roiled and rolled as if it was an angry sea. More quakes sent him tumbling to his office floor as he tried to get to his office door. He got to his feet and braced himself for another one.

Nothing happened. All was still.

The door to his office flew open with a sharp bang, nearly sending him off his feet again. He whirled and saw Flitwick standing in the door frame, his cheat heaving as if he had run across the entire castle.

"Albus… the ground." He panted

"I felt it to. We have to find that Chamber."

"Severus, Poppy, and the ghosts have gone to check the students in their common rooms. The rest of the staff is still searching."

"I shall come as well. We can cover more ground that way. Let's start on the seventh floor and work our way downwards."

As they descended his stairs, Dumbledore had a feeling that this night was only just starting.

* * *

Ron Weasley was having a bad day

He was hungry. He was tired. He had a headache building behind his eyes. His hands were scratched and bleeding as he shifted yet another rock out of the massive rockslide. So far he had moved dozens of large stones into a smaller pile behind him.

The obstruction let out a dangerous rumble. Ron barely managed to dodge out of the way before another cascade of rocks slide down and covered what progress he had made.

He let out a frustrated moan. He didn't even have a functioning wand to help him.

The newly obliviated Lockhart was being no help at all, babbling and drawing shapes in the dirt with Ron's wand stump.

Ron had convinced him his name was Terry and that he was an experimental potion tester in Nocturne Alley. It has been hilarious at first but now Ron was tempted to bash him over the head, just to get him to shut up so his head could stop hurting.

Suddenly the tunnel began to rumble and shake as if a mob of people were marching down the tunnel towards him. More stones began to rain down from the ceiling.

Ron tackled Lockhart to the floor and shielded them both from falling rocks. Dust choked the corridor, making it hard for him to breathe.

Slowly everything came to a stop. Ron peeked his head up to survey the damage.

Half the corridor was demolished and caved in. Pipes jutted out of the walls at haphazard angles, leaking water and sludge.

Ron cautiously moved back over to the pile and experimentally moved one of the rocks. Nothing happened. He set his shoulders and began to move rocks once again. He needed to keep going.

Ginny needed him.

* * *

Time passed, maybe half an hour, maybe more.

Ron was just shifting a large rock at the bottom of the pile when he heard footsteps.

"Hello?" a small voice sounded from the other side of the pile.

"Ginny!" Ron shouted. With a new energy, Ron began flinging rocks off the pile. He created a small opening in the stone.

Ginny's head appeared in the opening. "Ron" she squeaked out in relief.

She reached her arm out of the hole; he grasped and pulled her free.

Once he got her into the dim light of the tunnel, he realized she looked even worse than he realized. Scratches ran up and down Ginny's arms and her jumper look as if she had been mauled by a lion. Her eyes were sunken and red as if she had been crying. She was swaying violently on her feet as if she was going to collapse at any moment. Her teeth chattered violently as if she was standing in a blizzard.

She looked like she had been through a war. Ron was just happy to see her alive.

Now that he had confirmed Ginny was still alive Ron noticed something alarming: Ginny was alone.

"Ginny! Ginny where's Harry!?"

"There was only room in the tunnel for one of us. He said he would stay behind and wait for help."

Ron had questions, several in fact, but he was prevented from asking them when Ginny's legs buckled. He caught her and gently lowered her to the ground. They had to get her to Madam Pomphrey. Fast. Harry would have to handle himself for a while.

"Oi! Terry, get over here and help me."

Lockhart ambled over and stared at her blankly. Ron could have cheerfully strangled him. He scooped the feeble Fawkes off the ground and glared at the memoryless man.

"Put her on your back, you bloody ponce. We have to get her out of here."

They made a strange trio with Lockhart hunched over, Ginny on his back and Ron following behind them to make sure she didn't fall off

After 10 minutes, they managed to get back to the slide. It was a steep, but manageable, incline. Ron stuck Fawkes inside his robes so he could climb with both hands.

They reached the edge of the slide, passing Ginny overhead before climbing out themselves. The bathroom was empty, not even Myrtle in sight.

""Well done Terry mate, well done." Lockhart looked bewildered but Ron ignored him. He gathered Ginny in his arms and carried her out into the corridor, Lockhart in his wake.

"Help! Help! Somebody help us!" Ron cried as he stumbled towards the Entrance Hall.

McGonagall materialized from around a corner, ready to breathe fire at the students who dared to break curfew in these trying times.

She stopped short.

"Mister Weasley…"

"Yeah, yeah punish me later. Help Ginny now!" McGonagall focused her attention on Ginny.

"Hospital Wing! Now!"

As the three of them sprinted down the corridor, Ron only hoped they were not too late.

* * *

**Later…**

Dumbledore was at his wits end.

They had turned the castle upside down since the reappearance of the Weasley's and the professor formally known as Lockhart. The ghosts and staff had gone through every room and hallway in the castle looking for Harry but so far had turned up nothing. They had combed the forest and the lake looking for him.

Attempts to venture down into the Chamber had proven fruitless. After the Weasleys had emerged, the entire tunnel system had collapsed under severe structural damage. It would take a team of construction wizards weeks to excavate it safely enough for them to conduct a search in it and by then it would be too late.

Dumbledore was trapped. He could only hold back the truth of Harry's disappearance from the other students and the press for so long. Sooner or later, they would find out that he was not recovering in solitude and hell would rain down upon the school for having lost the Boy Who Lived.

He would be lucky if Fudge didn't throw the entire staff in jail for having lost "a national treasure."

He was just deciding if they should send another party to check the Forbidden Forest when a silvery cat ran into the room and stopped in front of him.

"We found him. Resting in Hospital Wing" the cat spoke in McGonagall's voice.

Finally.

* * *

**Even Later...**

Even before he was fully awake, Harry knew exactly where he was. Only one place had both scratchy sheets and an antiseptic smell.

With a groan he sat up, reached for his glasses, and looked around the Hospital Wing. It was completely empty, every bed but his neatly made and turned down.

The double doors opened on the far end of the room, and Dumbledore emerged. His brightly colored robes billowed behind him as he moved to sit besides Harry's bed.

"Ah Harry my boy, it is good to see you awake. Once we found the Weasley's but didn't find you, we feared the worst."

"How long was I was out?"

"Only a few hours, but that was an excellent recovery time for someone in your condition."

"My condition, sir?"

"According to Madam Pomphrey, you magical core was almost completely depleted. That can happen when a person undergoes tremendous stress and uses larges amounts of magic at once. Wherever you were all this time, you must have used all of your magic to stay alive."

Shaking off thoughts of a massive mouth with fangs bearing down on him, Harry focused on another part of the sentence.

"All this time sir? I thought you said you only found the Weasley's a few hours ago?"

Dumbledore gave him a funny look

"I said you had been unconscious for a few hours." Harry's asked hesitantly, already having guessed the answer.

"Harry, the Weasley's came back three weeks ago and you have been missing ever since. Wherever have you been?"

**AN**: I have already included a brief hint as to which of the Stones Harry will find first. (Other Hint: he has already seen it) I don't know when I will be able to post again with the virus spreading.


	5. The 712th Council of Hogwarts Ghosts

AN: With nothing to do because of Coronavirus, I had time to write another one. Tell me what y'all think.

Chapter 4:

Harry was going to scream. He really was.

It seemed that no matter where he went he was being watched. Ever since he had gotten out of the Hospital Wing, he could feel the teachers watching him like a hawk. Whether that was to make sure he didn't disappear again or because they were worried he didn't know. But Flitwick and Sprout had stopped him after class four separate times to have "a quick chat".

But that wasn't the worst part.

Ever since he had woken up, he had had a shadow. No matter where he went, Hermione was only a few steps behind him. At meals, in class, in the Common Room, she always right there beside him. When he went up at night to his dorm she was sitting on the couch and she waiting by Portrait Hole when he went down for breakfast. Harry idly wondered if she ever actually slept.

Now normally he wouldn't mind this terribly. Hermione was one of his best friends, and he had missed her terribly when she had been petrified but it was getting to the point when the only time where he was truly alone was when he went to toilet.

A man was entitled to be by himself for at least five minutes wasn't he?

As if on cue, less than ten minutes after he had settled into the library she came wandering in through the door. To her credit, she made a big show of looking around for a table before seeing him and hurrying over.

"Hi, how are you?" she said brightly as if she hadn't just seen him at dinner fifteen minutes ago.

"Another night in the library huh?" he said conversationally

She look at him as if he were daft "You and books? Where else would I be?" she asked cheekily

Harry gave her a small smile before returning to his mountain of books. For the past week he, and therefore she, had spent every night in the library after dinner. Harry was desperately searching for any mention of these Infinity Stones, just to prove that what happened after Chamber wasn't a mad coma dream.

Over the past few days he had torn through books on Charms, Transfiguration, Astronomy, Wand Lore, and Wizarding History. Nothing. Not even a brief mention of the damn things. He had been hoping to come up with new information before the train left for summer, but with two days to go he was starting to lose hope.

He couldn't even go retrieve the journal from Hagrid's hut because he was constantly being watched and followed and it would raise too many questions.

With a sigh, he picked up a dense book on experimental growth potions and began to read

* * *

Several books later, Harry looked up from a shockingly boring chapter on exotic venoms to find that it was ten minutes to closing time. The books in his pile began to move and place themselves back on the shelf.

"Great, another night wasted" he muttered to himself "I'm starting to think they really don't exist"

Hermione gave him a funny look "What doesn't exist?"

Harry waved her off and picked up the final book that was still in front of him. It was titled _Obscure Myths and Legends from the Ancient Past_. It was a book on wizarding mythology that he had picked up for variety.

Ignoring the pointed glare of Madam Pince, Harry picked up the book and began to idly scan the table of contents.

As expected there were large sections on Merlin, the Founders of Hogwarts, and Medieval society but nothing he thought was important. He was about to toss the book on the pile when he spotted it at the very end of the book.

_The Founder's Greatest Secret?: What are the Infinity Stones?_

Harry's heart skipped several beats. Here was the information he was seeking and it was in the last place he would have expected!

He quickly gathered his things and walked with Hermione over to check out the book. Madam Pince spent a full minute checking for any kind of damage or fraud with the book before reluctantly stamping it and handing it over.

Hermione was waiting in the corridor. "Did you jinx the book?" she asked sarcastically as they started back to Gryffindor Tower.

"I think she has fun with the stamps?" Harry said seriously before giving her a huge grin. They both burst into giggles as they clambered through the portrait hole.

The Common Room was mostly empty as Harry bid Hermione goodnight and climbed to his dormitory, book tucked under one arm.

He made small talk with Neville and Ron as he readied himself for bed. Like Hermione, Ron had also seemed to be extra careful around Harry since the Chamber but hadn't taken to following him everywhere. For this, Harry was grateful.

Bidding the other guys goodnight, Harry drew the curtains around his four poster.

Now he was finally, FINALLY alone and he could focus.

He opened the book to the proper page and began to read:

* * *

_The Founder's Greatest Secret: What are the Infinity Stones_

_There are many myths and legends about the Founders of Hogwarts but one of the strangest concerns the Infinity Stones. The legend is as follows:_

_Shortly after the founding of Hogwarts, the founders came across a visitor from another world. This visitor's name and race has been lost to history. This visitor came as an emissary of peace but soon died after it arrived. _

_Before it died, this being passed on artifacts of great power to the founders. These artifacts, known as the Infinity Stones, could control the very fabric of nature and reality. These artifacts were directly responsible for the noted increase in power that the founder displayed after the founding of Hogwarts._

_No evidence of the stones or a being from another world has ever been recorded._

* * *

That was it. Less than two pages of information at the back of some obscure book, but it was like a gold mine for Harry.

Here was proof that he wasn't crazy, that someone else knew about the Infinity Stones.

If the stones were really as powerful as the book claimed, it made sense why someone as powerful as Salazar Slytherin would think they needed to be hidden away.

One thing was for sure Harry thought as he drifted off to sleep. "Tomorrow I need to get that journal."

The next night after dinner, Harry saw his chance.

Hermione went to bed early complaining of a headache and chills.

He walked with her back to the tower and made sure to see her off safely to her dorm. Once she was up the stairs, Harry sprinted up the stairs waving off an offer of chess from Ron.

After making sure his dorm was empty, Harry grabbed his invisibility cloak and crept down the stairs.

The Common Room was nearly deserted as he crept past the dying fire and a few stragglers trying to enjoy their last night with their friends.

He slunk out of the Portrait Hole and down to the Grand Staircase. With tonight being the last night of the year, security was surprisingly lax. This was going to a quick jaunt down and back.

Of course, things in the life of Harry Potter can never be that easy.

* * *

As Harry rounded the last corner to the top of the Grand Staircase, he was stopped short by what he saw.

Floating in the middle of the Entrance Hall was the largest gathering of ghosts he had ever seen. He doubted he, or any living person, had ever seen this many ghosts at once. It looked as though every ghost in the castle had gathered in a loose ring around the middle of the Entrance Hall. Just looking around he could see Nick, Myrtle, the Gray Lady and even an unusually subdued looking Peeves.

The ghost closest to Harry, the Bloody Baron, was speaking: "…and now we call to order the 712th Official Council of the Hogwarts Ghosts and Spirits." A loud gavel sound echoed from behind the Baron, nearly startling Harry down the stairs. "Now we our first speaker has the floor. Friar, if you will?"

Another ghost melted out of the mass and came to rest in the middle of the circle. It was the Fat Friar, the Hufflepuff house ghost.

"Yes well, the purpose of this meeting is to discuss the safety of the living in the castle. Over the past two years, the castle and its inhabitants have come under mortal danger twice. It is only due to the actions of students, or rather student, that the castle has remained open. We cannot rely on the actions of Mr. Potter forever, nor should we force him to save the school every year."

Hearing his own name jolted Harry back into action, and reminded him that he probably shouldn't be listening to this. He carefully began to inch his way towards the front door.

Overhead, the Friar was still speaking "We as ghosts have a duty to this school…"

The Friar was cut off by a loud horse neigh. From across the circle, emerged a group of ghostly knights riding flickering horses. They all had their heads underneath one arm.

What appeared to be their leader, a ghost in gleaming armor with blood staining his front, spoke: "What duty do we have as ghosts Friar? Tell me how being dead magically gives us some mountain of responsibility to the living?"

The Friar bristled "Just because the Headless Hunt is a bunch of drunkards who would rather play head polo than keep the castle open doesn't mean the rest of us are!"

The knight raised its arm "Peace Friar. I'm just asking what responsibility we owe the living?" He turned to the crowd. "Why should the living even be here?! We should be the sole inhabitants of the castle!"

The crowd of ghosts gave a cheer. "You see Friar we do not all agree with your goals and your plans. In fact you can stick your plans…" The knight was cut off by another gavel blast from the Baron.

"The Friar has the floor. Sir Patrick, sit down before we banish you from these proceedings!"

"Of course, your eminence" the knight said mockingly to jeers from his supporters.

Harry was so caught up in listening to the meeting that he didn't look where he was going. He tripped over a rough patch of floor and went sprawling with a muffled thump.

Every head in the hall snapped around to stare at the sound.

Harry froze, still sprawled on the ground.

"It appears we have a… guest" The Baron said with a voice colder than the Arctic.

Harry began to inch ever so slowly towards the door. The Gray Lady floated over to where he had been and felt around. She looked at the Baron and shook her head.

"False alarm then. Now onto our second speaker…"

Harry was so close to the door. He didn't know what the ghosts would do if they caught him, but it probably wouldn't be pleasant. Fifteen feet, ten feet, five feet, almost there…

When he could reach out and touch the door, Harry jumped to his feet. He threw it open with an almighty bang and sprinted into the night.

He risked a glance over his shoulder, and saw that the Entrance Hall was completely empty. Not a single sign that the meeting of ghosts had ever existed.

"Meeting adjourned I guess" thought Harry.

* * *

Moonlight draped over the ground as he approached Hagrid's cottage. He could hear the deep snores of the giant man and his dog from outside as he crouched in the pumpkin patch.

The forest was unusually still, as it were carved from stone. Nothing stirred in the late June air, not even insects.

Harry quickly found the loose brick, pulled it free and reached inside the opening.

He seized the leather bound journal, pulled it free and placed it in the pocket of his robes.

With his prize secured, he replaced the brick and started to make his way back to the castle.

This was going to be an interesting summer.


	6. Marge in Flames

AN: This chapter is longer than the others, tell me if y'all like it or if you want shorter chapters.

Warning: This chapters contains references to child/ spousal abuse. Nothing graphic but better safe than sorry.

Chapter 5:

Something was off on Privet Drive, Harry could feel it. For the longest time, the house and the people who lived in it tried so hard to be normal that anything else felt wrong.

But, now something new had arrived. Maybe it was the new coldness that existed between his aunt and uncle when they picked him up, where they refused to speak more than single sentences to each other. Maybe it was his uncle snapping at Dudley about his posture as Harry started to make dinner, but something was wrong.

It was only after dinner that he found out just how much trouble he was in.

After they had finished eating, Aunt Petunia and Dudley practically threw their plates at him and ran out of the room. His uncle walked over to a cabinet beside the stove and pulled out a bottle of whiskey. He walked back to the table and threw back a large portion of the bottle. Great bubbles of air floated to the top of the bottle as he drank

Harry took an involuntary step backwards, his entire body filling with horror. His uncle didn't drink, not seriously, and hadn't for years. The last time had been when he was just a kid, and it had gone very badly…

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he grabbed the dirty plates and made his way over to the sink. As he washed Harry could now see evidence of his uncle's drinking all over the house. Liquor bottles spilled out of the trash, brown stains adorned Aunt Petunias carpet and couch, a reek of filth hung in the air.

Aunt Petunia and Dudley had seemed to be shaken but unharmed which was good, but he had to worry about his own safety now. When Uncle Vernon drank, his number one target became Harry and he didn't have the same morals or fears that his uncle had when he was sober.

When he had been a kid, he had separated his uncle into two different people in his mind: Sober was Uncle Vernon while intoxicated was Drunk Uncle. Drunk Uncle had haunted his dreams as a child, a nightmarish standout among the other injustices.

If Uncle Vernon was drinking heavily again, he couldn't worry about reading the journal or doing his homework.

He had to worry about staying alive.

"BOY" his uncle slurred "Get ova here."

Harry stopped washing, but stood as far away from his Uncle as possible

"I don't wanna see any funny business from you or there won't be enough of ya to send back to that…" He paused to take another long draw on the whiskey. "…place" he finished lamely.

"I don't wanna see you expect when you fixing supper. Kapche?"

Harry nodded and hurried out of the kitchen while his uncle retrieved another bottle of whiskey. His aunt caught him at the bottom of the stairs.

"About two weeks ago, he lost out on a contract at work and got demoted. Just stay out of his way."

The sound of shattering glass out of the kitchen made both of them jump.

I'll bring you your meals" she whispered hurriedly "don't come out of your room."

"PETUNIA!" his uncle roared.

"Coming dear" Aunt Petunia called fearfully, giving Harry a pointed look.

He seized his trunk and Hedwig and made his way up to his bedroom.

The first thing he did was move his desk in front of his door. Just in case.

* * *

That night, he dreamed of the last time he had seen his uncle drink. It had been a problem off and on throughout his early childhood, but one night it had all come to a head.

Harry was five years old, and getting ready to go to bed in his cupboard. Uncle Vernon hadn't been home for dinner and that was unusual. He never worked late if he could help it, always trying to be home for dinner.

Suddenly, the door to the house flew open with a thunderous crash. A heavy weight, his uncle, staggered down the hall, crashing into the walls as he went. He hit Harry's cabinet door which was nearly taken off its hinges by the force. Harry curled back onto his bed in fear.

Aunt Petunia rushed down the stairs, squawking at the top of her voice. "You'll wake Dudley! The neighbors will hear! What is the matter with you?!"

"Ah shut up, you miserable hag." His uncle's voice rang out. A loud crack echoed through the downstairs, followed by his aunt's shrill shriek and a loud thump as something hit the floor.

"BOY" his uncle bellowed as he began to fiddle with the door. Harry shrank back into the corner as far as he could go. Frustrated with the locks, his uncle seized the weakened door and ripped it from it hinges. He reached in and gripped Harry by the shirt.

Harry stared into the face of something that certainty wasn't his uncle. His uncle's face wasn't quite so purple or bulging, and his eyes were not so red and angry.

"Sleeping eh? Not going to take up good space in my house. No sir, not if Vernon Dursley has anything to say about it"

Uncle Vernon dragged Harry by the shirt into the kitchen. Behind his uncle, Harry could see his Aunt lying face down on the landing of the staircase. She wasn't moving.

Harry was practically thrown across the kitchen where he collided headfirst with the sliding glass door. His head splitting with pain, Harry looked up to see his uncle grabbing a knife from the block by the stove.

He advanced on Harry and raised the knife. "This will teach you to be a layabout in my house!"

Harry experienced a strange tightening in his chest and felt a force explode out from him.

The knife burst into flames. Uncle Vernon dropped it yowling in pain

The force pinned him to the wall crashed his uncle into the cabinets and then held him against the wall. Harry watched in stunned amazement as the remaining knives rose out of the block and hurled themselves at the pinned man, embedding in the wall an inch from his face.

Suddenly the large man was pulled across the room, crashing through the glass sliding doors before coming to a stop on the patio outside.

Harry sat, stunned and silent, in the ruined kitchen unable to believe what he had seen.

And that was where he was found in the morning.

* * *

Harry sat up in bed in a cold sweat. He hadn't thought about that night in years. When he was found, it was assumed that Vernon had stumbled and fallen into the cabinets and through the sliding door on his own. Aunt Petunia had steadfastly claimed to investigators that she had tripped down the stairs going to investigate the noise and that was how she got a black eye and bruises.

With no evidence or witnesses the police has been forced to let it go. His uncle swore never to drink heavily again, and had for the most part kept his promise. The Dursleys bought a new door for their cupboard and patio and tried to put the whole thing behind them.

But Harry never forgot what happened. Now, almost ten years later, his uncle was drinking again. Hard from the looks of it.

If history was anything to go by, he wouldn't have to wait until next school year to fight monsters again.

One was living down the hall.

* * *

It was almost a week later that he remembered Slytherin's Journal sitting at the bottom of his trunk.

The shock of seeing a drunk Uncle Vernon again had driven all thoughts of fantastical, universe bending rocks from his mind. He had automatically started on his homework and chores and that had kept him busy.

But now, with all of his homework done and boredom setting in, he remembered the little black book he had gone to so much trouble to retrieve. He had nothing but time now and was anxious to confirm his theories.

He dug through his trunk until he found it, sat on his bed, and began to read:

* * *

_September 12, 1012 AD_

_Last night something miraculous happened. Something that defies even the convoluted logic that we wizards live with every day. _

_We discovered a being from another world. _

_After the students were banished to their dormitory for the night, my friends and I were settling down for a nightcap when we heard the most tremendous crash from outside and felt the ground heave as though it had been struck._

_Fearing yet another pointless dispute with the centaurs, we hurried outside only to discover a strange man lying near the woods. Only it was like no man I, or anyone, has ever seen. It was at least half a man taller than Godric and a full man taller than I. _

_His complexion was a deep purple and his body was crossed with scars as it had seen tremendous battle. Its throat was a ruin as if a god had taken an axe or a sword to it. I had never seen such damage on a creature that was still living. Of course, it died shortly after we found it, and we burned its corpse on the shores of the lake where no students would find it. _

_Before it died, it passed… something on to us. With its last action, it past us its golden gauntlet which was embedded with the most marvelous, glowing stones and implored us to protect it. _

_Just picking up this gauntlet was enough to behold that it held great power. Truly great power the likes of which I have never seen. The likes of which I don't think anyone has ever seen._

_This requires further investigation and study for sure._

* * *

Harry was ecstatic. Here was proof that the stones existed! The thought briefly crossed his mind this may all have been an elaborate prank but he shoved it away. The book was too ancient for anyone to have made it recently. The pages crinkled with age and history in a way only an ancient book can.

Harry made to read another page when he noticed that the sun was starting to get low in the sky. He had a full day of chores to do tomorrow and didn't want to give his aunt a reason to yell.

Besides he had time.

Over the next several weeks Harry developed an steady routine with his relatives. Every morning he would get up before everyone else and make breakfast before returning to his room.

Once he was sure his uncle was gone for the day, he would emerge and work on the days chores during the rest of the morning and afternoon. If by 5 his work was deemed to be satisfactory, he was allowed to stop and go to the kitchen for a sandwich. He would then return to his room for the rest of the night where his aunt delivered his dinner through the cat flap that was installed last summer.

This arrangement worked fine for Harry as it meant he almost never had to see his uncle, and he got plenty of time to study the journal.

* * *

_October 28, 1012 AD_

_Today we made a breakthrough! We discovered that each of the gemstones, which the creature called Infinity Stones, acts as a conduit for energy on a massive scale. Rowena has taken charge on the research, because of course she has, and started experimenting. _

_Today she cast a blasting hex and the purple stone absorbed the entire thing! Without even leaving a mark! We all took turns casting various hexes on the stone before we were called away for our responsibilities. Perhaps we shall be able to use the stones in our future research…_

* * *

Harry turned the page

* * *

_October 29, 1012 AD_

_So it appears that the purple stone does not just absorb energy. It amplifies it as well. Helga went to touch the stone today, and nearly destroyed half the castle from the shock wave. _

_We will have to be more careful._

* * *

_ April, 5, 1013 AD_

_After much risk and work, we have finally managed to remove the stones from the gauntlet. It took a summoning charm, a weightless charm, and a greasing charm (although Godric may have been making a joke) but we have finally separated it into seven different parts. For now, we have put each of the stones and the gauntlet into different rooms. For safety purposes that is. _

_Tomorrow we will be able to focus our efforts on a single stone rather than all of them. This will allow us to focus our efforts and see what each stone does without risking magical feedback again._

* * *

_June 18__th__, 1013 AD_

_The green stone haunts my dream. We have made progress on each of the others but this one stubbornly refuses to do anything. _

_Godric has attached the purple stone to his wand and cast incredible magic beyond the likes of anything I have ever seen. He froze the entire lake into a solid sheet of ice so the students could go ice skating in the summer!_

_Helga used the red stone to change the castle masonry into pastries (and back again) but the green stone continues to elude us._

_It must do something. I can do this. I am one of the strongest wizards in the world. I will solve this riddle._

* * *

_November 22, 1013 AD_

_It has taken many months of devoted effort and consultation with every expert I know of but I have finally figured out what element this stone is attuned to. Time!_

_The wielder of this stone has complete mastery over the element of time! In just a few days of experimentation, I have been able to speed and slow time as well as age or de age something._

_Godric was most displeased that I may him relive his teenage years again but Rowena and I had fun. _

_With that discovered we have discovered the properties of each of the six stones that was gifted to us by the purple being:_

_Green: Mastery over time motion_

_Red: Reality and changing the physical properties of objects_

_Blue: Ability to warp and control physical space_

_Yellow: Power over consciousness and the weak minded_

_Purple: Store and amplify power and energy _

_Orange: Communication with spirits_

_Each of these objects are supremely powerful on their own. The space stone can be used to travel across the entire world and through the strongest wards in a second. _

_The power of these artifacts is unlike anything I have ever encountered. We could use these to bridge the gap between magical and not magical, maybe even give a form of magic to muggles. We could elevate the muggles to the level of power that we wizards enjoy every day._

_Maybe we could make a whole new world, a better world. I feel as though we have barely scratched the surface of what we can do. _

_I can't wait to get started_

* * *

Harry felt as if he had been handed very dangerous information. For some reason, this Slytherin didn't sound like the Slytherin that he had learned about. And what of these Infinity Stones? Artifacts that could reverse the flow of time or let someone alter reality on a massive scale? This was all too much.

He was only twelve almost thirteen. He shouldn't have to have knowledge of something that would allow him to talk with the dead!

For a brief second, he considered writing to Dumbledore, explaining what had really happened after he went missing from the Chamber and giving him the journal. Dumbledore would take care of it, and he would not have this burden on him.

He got up, pulled out a piece of parchment, and was setting his quill in the ink when he stopped.

"Think it through" he said quietly to himself "pull a Hermione"

If he gave the book to Dumbledore, he would be rid of it but how much did he really know about Dumbledore? He seemed like a good man but how could Harry really be sure? It wasn't as though he really knew him after all. As old as he was, Dumbledore was probably a good actor; what would he do with the information?

But even if Dumbledore was as good a man as he thought, there was no guarantee that he would keep the information to himself. There was a good chance that someone like Lucius Malfoy or the Minster for Magic finding out. Did he really want someone like that finding out that the stones actually existed and potentially using them?

Then Harry had another chilling thought. If Lucius Malfoy found about the stones, wouldn't Voldemort? Harry knew he was still out there, had seen him escape Quirrell's body at the end of his first year. What would the world be like if Voldemort got the stones and used them?

Thoughts of a super-powered Voldemort returned to a body flitted through his mind. Imagined screams echoed in his ears.

Slowly Harry put down the quill. No, he couldn't tell anyone. No one could know, only him. He would have to take this secret to his grave. It was a sobering thought for him to process.

He slowly look around his room. It was quiet, Hedwig was out hunting. The clock by his bedside read that it was 1:00 am. With a jolt, Harry realized that it was the 31st of July, his birthday.

He had been 13 for a whole hour and hadn't realized it.

Deciding that he would probably feel better in the morning, Harry decided to call it a night.

* * *

When he went downstairs the next morning to start his chores, Harry was met with a rather unwelcome sight: His uncle was still sitting at the table. He looked sober enough but the sight of him was still enough to set Harry on edge.

The entire family was facing towards the brand new TV that his Aunt had bought after Dudley had complained that he could not watch two shows at once without changing the channel.

A tall, thin man was just finishing up a rather important looking newscast standing on a shabby looking dock.

"… Authorities have no idea how Black was able to escape the heavily secured facility but they warn that he is armed and dangerous. Citizens are advised not to engage if they see him and call the hotline below."

A phone number flashed on the screen beneath a picture of a man who looked like he had been living in the woods for his whole life. His sunken and dead eyes were framed by hair that look as though it had never before seen a barber. His face was smeared with dirt and his yellowed teeth were bared in a feral grin.

The sight of him sent a shiver through Harry's body, although he wasn't quite sure why.

"Look at that hair, no wonder he was in prison. No respectable member of society looks like that. Kill em all I say." Uncle Vernon griped, turning back to his breakfast. He saw Harry and his eyes narrowed.

"Boy, your Aunt Marge is coming in an hour. Make yourself look presentable."

Harry had to suppress a groan. Aunt Marge was a terror even on her good days. She liked to have her beloved pet bulldogs chase Harry for hours when he was younger to "build character in the runt."

"How long is she staying?"

"Two weeks. Now make sure none of your freakishness is on display. If she even suspects anything, i'll put you back in that cupboard in pieces."

Anxious to enjoy his last Marge free hours, Harry quickly wolfed down his single piece of toast and returned to his room. He tried to read, but all too soon he heard the sound of a car in the driveway.

* * *

Marge looked extraordinarily like his uncle, down to the impressive mustache that adorned her upper lip. She looked as though she had gained at least twenty pounds since he had last seen her, which was impressive at her size. She almost had to squeeze sideways in order to fit through the door.

"Vernon! Good to see you" Marge boomed. She shoved her suitcases into Harry's arms without looking at him.

He heaved the bags up to the spare bedroom before returning to the kitchen. Normally, he wouldn't bother but he knew that Marge would want to see him.

By the time he had returned to the kitchen, Marge and Vernon were already sharing a bottle of brandy.

"So it's going to be that kind of evening" Harry thought grimly.

Marge zeroed in on Harry. "Ah, your still here aren't you."

"Yes"

"You know Vernon, if he had been dropped on my doorstep I would have taken him out back and drowned him in the well, as small as he is. No place for weakness with dogs you know."

Ignoring Marge's threats and bluster, Harry went to make himself a sandwich. He found himself blocked by Marge's bulk.

"What do you think you are doing." She shrieked "Taking Vernon's food like it belongs to you! GET OUT!" She grabbed Harry by the scruff of his neck like a dog and bodily tossed him from the kitchen. She slammed the door behind her.

* * *

Things only got worse by dinner. By this time, Marge and Vernon had consumed all the liquor that she had brought with her and were visibly staggering.

As Harry was serving the roast and carrots, Marge set in on her favorite target: him.

"So you just let the boy wear his hair like that Petunia? Doesn't it embarrass you?"

Aunt Petunia gave a dry shrug "Everything he does shames us, why should we care about one more thing?"

"But I guess a thug like him has no sense or shame anyway. He has no future beyond mopping floors anyway."

She shot him a glance, hoping to see a reaction. Seeing him still calm, Marge decided to go in on the big guns.

"So his parents, what were they again? A whore and a junkie? Maybe they were both whores. Never know what you're going to do for a fix when they get desperate. Probably got shot in a gang shootout"

Harry slammed the plate down on the counter, carrots flying everywhere. He had to remain calm, had to get out of here. He couldn't lose control and do accidental magic, not again. He couldn't let her get to him…

Marge, seeing a reaction, went in for the kill. "But I guess you'll never know will you? I say three cheers for the hero who finally offed them, taking out trash like that. Good riddance!"

"Marge!" Aunt Petunia said, affronted that she was ruining dinner, but the damage was done.

Harry felt a balloon of anger expand in his chest, a tidal wave of fury that overwhelmed his other senses. He saw nothing but red.

"Shut up" he said quietly.

"What did you say to me?" Marge boomed

"I SAID SHUT UP, YOU COW." Harry bellowed, whirling to face her. The lights in the kitchen flickered and dimmed.

"Marge…" Aunt Petunia said worriedly.

"No need Petunia, let me straighten out this trash."

Marge heaved herself out of her chair and waddled over to him. She regarded him coldly for a moment. Then she reared back and backhanded Harry across the face. He felt his feet actually leave the ground as he slammed into the cabinets next to the sink.

Marge delivered a sharp kick to his stomach. "NEVER SPEAK TO YOUR BETTERS LIKE THAT. You, boy aren't fit to serve my wine, let alone eat at my table. You belong in the trash like your whore parents and if I had any mercy I would put you in the ground." She kicked him again, this time in the side of the head. She turned to head back to the table as if he no longer interested her.

Harry felt the balloon in his chest burst. All the appliances and lights in the kitchen began to spark and flash wildly.

Marge turned around and looked confusedly between the surge and Harry.

"Boy what are you…"

All of the appliances exploded at once, the streams of electricity combining and lancing through Marge.

She was blown off her feet like a ragdoll and crashed through the far wall of the living room. Her bulk meant that she took a good deal of the wall with her. She lay, unmoving, sparking and twitching looking for all the world as though she had just been struck by lightning. Her enormous jumper caught fire.

The kitchen was still for a moment, everyone stunned by what had happened. Harry jumped to his feet, and sprinted for his bedroom. He had to get out now, before the Dursleys recovered and stopped him. He didn't know where he would go but he had to leave.

He pelted things into trunk, closed it, grabbed Hedwig's empty cage. He made sure he had Slytherin's journal in his bag before he left.

Uncle Vernon met him at the bottom of the stairs. His face was purple, almost blue and his voice slurred as he screamed.

"YOU FIX HER, YOU FIX HER NOW. I WILL PUT YOU INTO THE GROUND, DO YOU HEAR ME?"

His fingers closed around Harry's throat. A pop of electricity from Harry's skin forced his fingers away. An invisible force lifted and threw him across the room where he crashed into the fireplace. He crumpled to the ground in a shower of bricks and blood.

Harry threw open the door and marched out into the night, leaving a broken wall and a still burning Marge in his wake.

* * *

He got two blocks away before he determined that no one was following him.

He collapsed onto the sidewalk, sitting on the curb. He was tired. He was hungry. His throat hurt from the brief moment that Vernon had tried to strangle him. And this wasn't even his worst birthday.

Most of all, he realized, he was tired of bullies. Tired of people like Marge and Vernon and even Voldemort. People who would try to bully and kill him just because they thought they were bigger and better than him. He always ran away because he couldn't fight back. One day his luck would run out: If his relatives didn't beat him to death, Voldemort would get him. He was so tired of running and being afraid for his life. If he didn't take control, he was going to go insane.

"That's it" Harry said out loud to himself "I'm done running."

The only way to get them to stop would be to become bigger, smarter or more powerful than them. He would never be bigger than Marge or smarter than Voldemort but he could be become more powerful, the most powerful person on earth. And he would never be in danger again. The answer was sitting in his bag.

It was there, sitting on the sidewalk of Wisteria Walk, that Harry Potter committed to the quest that would change everything.

He was going to get all of the Infinity Stones.

Or die trying.


	7. The Manhunt

**AN: OK I need to go over some stuff before we start this chapter:**

**1) This will be a slowburn fic. Yes there will be plenty of action, but also chapters like this with a lot of set up and little mention of the stones. Its the only way I know how to write, and makes for a more organic story. I plan to stretch this story through at least 6th or 7th year so we will get there. Please don't pester me for more action, its coming I promise.**

**2) This story is going to follow the major events of Canon for a while. Yes there will be a Triwizard Tournament, and it will probably have the same tasks. Its going to get really different later but right now its going to stick to the major events of Canon through at least 4th year. I'm not going to give Harry a long lost rich uncle or multiple estates or anything like that.**

**3) I have thought about shipping. I haven't fully decided yet but it will be finalized by the Yule Ball. You will probably be able to see it coming before that though.**

**4) I'm upping the rating of this story to M. I plan to make it get darker and darker like the actual novels as it gets closer to the end. Nothing horribly graphic but its going to get darker. I'll put warnings at the top of harsh chapters.**

**5) Yes this is a crossover fic, but I'm setting most of it in the potterverse. Yes characters from the MCU will show up, but not often and not for a while. The main crossover element comes from the Infinity stones being in the potter universe. **

**That's everything, thanks for reading! Please enjoy and leave a review.**

**Chapter 6:**

Most days Mafalda Hopkirk really hated her job.

Being an agent at the Improper Use of Magic Office was never going to be the best job. The hours were long. The pay was dreadful. She was surrounded by a legion of moronic coworkers who didn't have a single brain cell between ten of them.

The worst part was that she, a half-blood witch who had graduated Hogwarts with four NEWTS to her name, was practically chained to a tiny desk in a dusty corner while much younger and less qualified purebloods shot up the chain of command because of their rich daddies.

"Sometimes life really wasn't fair" she thought bitterly as she wiggled around her desk from getting her fourth cup of tea in as many hours. She normally wouldn't drink that much but the night shift was tedious, she needed something to take the edge off and drinking Fire Whiskey at her desk was unfortunately not allowed.

She stopped short when she saw a bright yellow paper airplane with blinking blue stripes and flashing green polka dots sitting in the middle of her desk. The sight of it filled her with dread.

"That's really not good" she thought as she reached for it. Someone of her position didn't normally get things of this magnitude.

A yellow form meant that an underaged student had performed magic outside of Hogwarts for the second time in less than three years. The blue stripes meant that the magic performed had been above a class 3 spell, which meant it had the ability to seriously injure or maim if mishandled. The polka dots signaled that the magic had been performed in front of one or more muggles.

Mafalda had never seen all three symbols on a warning before. Normally, a blank yellow form would necessitate a strongly worded letter or a quick visit to the child's parents to discuss behavior. However, something of this magnitude was different. This could easily see the child expelled from school or even a stint in Azkaban if it broke the Statue of Secrecy in a serious enough way.

This was going to require a house call from the Accidental Magical Reversal Squad, Oblivators, and herself as case manager. And an entire cauldron full of paperwork after she got back.

She unfolded the envelope and let out a frustrated groan. Harry Potter, of course it had to be Harry bloody Potter. With a deep sigh, she summoned Potter's file from a bulging cabinet on the other side of the room.

The spoiled prat had probably been showing off, done some risky, dangerous magic in front of a neighbor or something and injured them. Just like last year when he cast that hover charm. Clearly his guardians were absolutely dazzled by the little imp and couldn't tell him no.

The Minster was probably going to get dragged into this now, or maybe the Head Auror in order to sweep it under the rug because it was Potter. Nothing could touch Potter. Somebody's head was going to roll for a violation this serious. When push came to shove and they needed a scapegoat, they would probably turn to her, the expendable office worker.

Still the law was the law. Maybe she could get there first and put the fear of Merlin into precious Potter to get him to stop casting magic every summer.

It would be better than sitting around here drinking tea all night.

Mafalda quickly dictated a message to a team of reversal wizards to meet her at Privet Drive and sighed. At least she was getting out of here for a while.

Most days she hated her job. But today, she it was going to be interesting at the very least.

She grabbed her coat and headed for the apparition point.

* * *

Mafalda apparated into absolute chaos.

Privet Drive was utterly choked with emergency vehicles. Two ambulances and a firetruck blocked the entire street as emergency workers swarmed Number 4. As she landed, a team from the local news station swerved down the street, jumped the curb in front of Number 6 and began to hurriedly set up cameras. Only the fact that she appeared on the opposite side of the street saved her from been seen by the numerous pairs of Muggle eyes.

She checked her sheet. This was the correct house, Number 4 Privet Drive, Surrey, but something was terribly wrong.

The entire front wall of the house had been demolished like someone had taken a blasting curse to it. The left half of the roof was sagging dangerously as if was going to collapse into the street at any moment. Mafalda could clearly see the sitting room and kitchen from where she was standing on the opposite sidewalk. Rubble and masonry scattered across the front lawn and street surrounding the house.

The Muggle paramedics were straining and heaving, trying to load the largest woman Mafalda had ever seen onto a double wide gurney. The woman was severely injured, looking for all the world as though she had been struck by lighting. Her skin was blackened, almost charred, and she was missing several teeth. Her hair had been burned off leaving her almost completely bald.

Mafalda felt a chill go down here spine. Accidental magic on this scale was almost unheard of, especially for a rising third year. This was something else.

Loud pops all around her signified the arrival of the reversal squad and Oblivators. She turned and saw they were all staring stunned at the carnage that had once been a house.

As the case manager, she was technically in charge of coordinating the teams unless someone of higher rank showed up. She cleared her throat and their attention snapped to her.

"We have a code Blackpool. I repeat a code Blackpool. Get the Muggles out of here and set up large scale Disillusionment Charms around the property. Obliviate all of the Muggles outside and in the surrounding houses but leave the family inside intact for now. They are on a Do Not Erase list due to their special circumstances."

As they moved to fulfill her orders, she pulled aside the head Oblivator "Several of them took an injured woman to the nearest Muggle hospital. Also, they are setting up a news camera. That will need to be erased and destroyed before they get on the air."

He nodded and motioned to several men. Two of them went straight for the news team and two of them disapperated with another loud pop.

Mafalda slowly made her way across the street, picking her way through darkened chunks of house by the light of the spells being cast around her. She entered through the front door and walked down the short hallway. She passed the cupboard underneath the stairs and entered the destroyed kitchen.

Amazingly, two people was still sitting silently at the table. The boy, Dudley the file said, was big enough to almost require two chairs to sit comfortably. His eyes were beady and sunken in by layers of hardened fat. His mother was the polar opposite. She was deathly thin with a horse face and had a vacant expression. She was staring blankly at a vase of flowers that had miraculously managed to stay upright.

Mafalda went and crouched by the woman.

"Mrs. Dursley?" She spoke as if to a child. "Mrs. Petunia Dursley? My name is Mafalda Hopkirk, and I work for the Ministry of Magic."

At the mention of the Ministry, the woman let out a quiet moan. Taking this as an encouraging sign, Mafalda continued. "Mrs. Dursley, can you tell me what happened here? Who blew out the wall?"

The woman didn't say anything for a long time, just stared blankly at her flowers. Mafalda was about to summon a healer when she began to speak.

"He..." She was so quiet that Mafalda had to lean her ear right next to her mouth in order to catch what she said. "He… was so angry. Like a monster. Marge went after him… and he killed her. He killed Vernon too…" She slowly trailed off.

This must have been the large woman in the garden and the equally large man crumpled in the living room. "Mrs. Dursley, both your husband and sister-in-law are going to be fine and make full recoveries. Where did your nephew go? Where is Harry?"

"The… boy left." She tried to get more out of the traumatized woman but she would not speak again.

Mafalda rocked back onto her heels. Who was this "He?" she talked about. Potter? Potter killed someone? No, Potter wouldn't do that. This had to have been an attack on the boy. But who would know where this house was and want to attack Potter here?

A sudden awful idea struck her. It had been in all over the Prophet this morning…

She needed to confirm her theory and she needed to do it now. She left the kitchen and went back to the street. She flagged down one of the senior members of the reversal squad.

"Hank. What was the spell used here?"

Hank slowly looked at the house and then back at her. "It looks like someone actually summoned lighting and threw it through the big woman. The force of her body is what broke the wall."

"And throwing lighting... is that a normal accidental magic spell?"

Hank rubbed his chin "Any spell can be done accidentally, even an Unforgivable but the odds are really low. You usually don't see something this advanced in accidental magic. Summoning a controlled bolt of lightning like this is an Auror level spell ya know?"

"So your saying this was most likely done by an adult wizard? A highly trained one?"

"I'd put Galleons on it yeah. Why? Do any adult wizards live here with Potter?"

Mafalda didn't answer him. She felt sick. She turned and cast several Patronus messengers. Three silvery Chameleons shot out of her wand and scuttled into the night.

She turned back to Hank. "This wasn't a case of accidental magic. I can almost guarantee this was an attack by Sirius Black."

* * *

Dumbledore was woken out a wonderful dream about lemon drops by the sound of shouting from his fireplace.

He stumbled out of bed and checked the time. 1:30 AM. If someone was calling at this hour, it was never good.

He fastened a robe around himself and hurried into his office. He blinked when he saw the panicked face of Cornelius Fudge staring back at him. This was really not good. When the Minster of Magic called you in a panic in the early morning, it was never going to be a fun conversation.

Dumbledore crouched down by the fire. "Cornelius! Do what do I owe the pleasure of this late night call?" he said almost jovially.

"Dumbledore!" The Minster all but yelped. "There has been an attack on Harry Potter! We think it was Black"

Dumbledore felt his insides freeze. Things were spiraling out of control very fast. "What happened?" he said, a hard edge to his voice.

"One of the grunts, Hopekirk I think, in Improper Use of Magic got a warning about an extremely powerful spell being used at Potter's Muggle house. With the hover charm last year, protocol mandated that she go for a visit. Lucky she did. When she got there, the house was almost destroyed, two of his relatives were heavily injured and Harry was missing."

"Have you any sign of him yet?"

"No! Not a whisper. He hasn't used magic so we can't track him that way. Hapcork woke up Amelia Bones with a messenger spell, who then woke me up. I'm calling you before I head over. If anyone can find him, you can. The press is going to eat us alive Dumbledore!"

"I'll meet you at Privet Drive in five minutes. Bring everyone you can." Before Fudge could say another word, Dumbledore cut the connection.

He changed into a new set of robes with a swish of his wand.

Doing a check to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything, he disapperated away with a loud pop.

* * *

Fudge met him on the front sidewalk of Privet Drive. He was standing next to a tall, severe looking woman with a monocle. Amelia Bones, head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

"Dumbledore! Thank Merlin! The press is trying to swarm all over this place. We managed to beat them back for now but we can't forever. This will be all over the front page of the Prophet tomorrow!"

Ignoring Fudge's ranting, Dumbledore focused his attention on Madam Bones.

"What have you found Amelia?" he asked quietly.

She gave a grimace before answering. "Well, as you can see, there was a high powered spell that destroyed a good deal of the house. We have had teams search the entire house and surrounding houses on this block. Potter is definitely gone. We relocated the Muggles who lived here to an empty house on the other side of town."

"What about the spell? Could it have been accidental?"

"Unlikely. Spells of this magnitude are almost never accidental magic. There are a few on record but that only happened in a case of extreme child abuse and neglect. And I mean extreme. Nothing in our records indicate that anything like that has happened here."

The possibility of child abuse did briefly cross Dumbledore's mind but he shoved it away. That would be absurd, this was Lily's sister. She would never allow something like that happen in her house.

"Have you run a trace on his magic?"

"The last spell he did was a banishing charm inside the front door. After that the trail gets muddy with all the spells that have been cast here tonight."

Dumbledore felt a pain in his chest. This was his worst nightmare. He had always considered Sirius Black to be one of his greatest failings, and now the madman had Harry in his grasp.

He fixed Amelia and Fudge with a steely eyed look. "We can safely assume, that wherever they are, Black and Harry are going to be well hidden. Finish up with the house and Muggles, and we can start search parties in all of the high traffic areas, Knockturn and Hogsmeade first. Set up check points on all the roads and trains leading out of town, Muggle and Magical. Cornelius, we should keep this from the press as long as we can but when it gets out…"

His words were drowned out by a horrible groaning noise as the front section of Number 4 Privet Drive collapsed inward on itself, sending dust billowing into the air.

Dumbledore could only see a horrible symbolism in that. All of his protections and plans had failed. The greatest hope for the wizarding world was in the hands of an insane mass murderer.

Wherever he was, Dumbledore could only hope that Harry would last the night.

* * *

Less than a Kilometer away from where Dumbledore stood, Harry was laying under the jungle gym of the Grove Street playground, trying to figure out what he would do next.

He obviously couldn't go back to Number 4. He had destroyed most of the living room and thrown his uncle through a wall. Worse than all that of that combined, he had used magic against the Dursleys. If he went back, he wouldn't even make it two steps inside the front door before someone grabbed him.

Then again, if his relatives didn't get him the Ministry would probably be waiting to snap his wand and expel him from Hogwarts. He had done a powerful piece of magic, in front of his muggle relatives no less. They tended to frown on things like that. That also meant that the Burrow was out because they could find him there as well.

He needed magic in order to survive at all, let alone look for the stones. Getting expelled was not part of the dream. He had to keep them from catching him, at least until he could explain himself.

With no good options and nowhere else to go, Harry instinctively found himself returning to the old playground. He used to hide here from Dudley and his gang when they would engage in Harry Hunting.

Well at least it wasn't all bad. It was August so it wasn't freezing and it wasn't raining. Even better as he was sitting on the swings, a great, shaggy black dog came up to Harry and nuzzled into his side. He laughed and began to pet the dog's flank.

Harry had always loved dogs but this one didn't look too good. It was clearly a stray, with no collar and a sad expression in its eyes. It looked painfully thin; Harry could count individual ribs through its fur. Harry's heart went out to it. He knew what it was like when the people you counted on didn't appreciate you. He split his last Licorice Wand in half and shared it with the dog.

Outside of Marge's visits, Harry didn't remember the last time he had touched or even seen a dog. The Dursleys would normally never have such a dirty creature in their house nor did any of his friends had one. Well, except Hermione. He remembered that during one of their many idle conversations in the library at the end of last term, she had confided in him about how much she missed her beloved Beagle Rosie.

Harry smiled in spite of himself as he thought about how Hermione would become animated as she described how cute Rosie was as she ran around her house and yard…

Harry froze as a thought occurred to him. She had written it down hadn't she…?

He leapt for his trunk and began frantically digging around in it. He tossed aside books, old quills and robes until he found the tiny slip of paper.

On it, in Hermione's precise handwriting, was a phone number and an address: _177 Pennington Place, Chelsea._ Hermione's address. She had given it to him as they were leaving the train and told him he should have it "in case he had an emergency. Or just needed to get away from Dudley for a while." There had been a look of concern in her eyes that he hadn't picked up on at the time but it was clear as day in hindsight.

If this wasn't an emergency, he didn't know what was. He needed a friendly face and somewhere to lay low. Hermione would know what to do, because she always did.

Harry knew there was a train station at the other end of town, and that it always had trains leaving starting at 5 AM. One of them had to go to Chelsea. He had no idea how he was going to pay for a ticket but he would figure that out later. Right now he needed to move.

Harry shot to his feet and gathered his things. He shoved Hedwig's empty cage into his trunk and wrestled it closed. It was lumpy and had to be tied together with an abandoned jump rope he found nearby but it closed. He was ready to go.

The dog also got to its feet and stretched. It let out a playful bark and spun around. Harry laughed and gave it another pat. He made to leave the playground and realized that the dog was following him.

"Go on boy! Get out of here! No more food here" Harry waved his hand wildly as he said this, trying to convey that it should leave. The dog looked distinctly unimpressed. Harry's shoulders fell. He didn't have time for this and didn't have the heart to send the dog away.

"Fine, come on if you want. But only for a while."

The dog, as if it understood him, let out another bark and raced up ahead of him. Harry let out a chuckle.

Maybe it would be nice to have some company for once.

* * *

It was only as he got closer that he realized that the path to the train station would take him right past Number 4 Privet Drive. Harry held his breath as he and the dog rounded the corner from Wisteria Walk on to Privet Drive.

He didn't know what he expected. Maybe his Uncle waiting outside with a shotgun while Dudley ate popcorn? Marge with an army of Bulldogs waiting to chew his face off? At the very least he expected Number 4 to be lit up with a giant gaping hole in the front wall and police crowding around the garden.

Instead, Privet Drive was dark and silent. The front wall was whole without any side of damage. Even the flowers in the front garden, which should have been crushed by Marge's weight, looked as if they had just been watered.

Harry stared dumbly for a minute before he snapped back to attention. Clearly wizards had been here, probably the ones looking for him from the Ministry.

Harry broke into a light jog trying to put as much distance between the house and himself as possible.

It took him more than an hour to cross town on foot, cutting through backyards and forest trails in an attempt to stay out of the open.

His shirt was uncomfortably sticking to his back due to the muggy heat when he finally came within view of the train station. It was an ugly, unremarkable brick building that looked as if it had seen better days. Broken windows and graffiti loomed high on the walls. It was not the kind of place that a normal 13 year old should be at never be at while unaccompanied at 4:00 AM.

Harry made his way inside and to the counter. He looked up through tired eyes at the ticket prices and felt his hopes plummet. There was no way he could afford a ticket to Chelsea, even if he saved his pocket money from the Dursleys for weeks. He had money in his trunk, but he didn't think they would take his Sickles here

In desperation, he looked around and spotted a door labeled _Train Yard- Employees only. _

After making sure that the security guards were not looking at him, Harry slowly eased the door open. He found himself in an open air gravel train yard where several of the 5 AM trains were being loaded and gassed up before being sent out.

Harry stuck to the early morning shadows as he crept through the alleyways looking for the correct train. It took an eternity but he found it right as it let out a piercing whistle. He looked at his watch: 4:55 AM. Harry cursed. He needed to get on right now or he would be discovered. He certainly couldn't ride in the passenger compartment or they would throw him off for not having a ticket.

He frantically dragged his trunk up and down the outside of the train, looking for something, anything he could use.

He spotted a small door that looked unlocked. It led to an opening that existed between one of the engines and the air conditioning system. It looked like it would be used for maintenance in normal circumstances but it probably was big enough for Harry, the dog, and his things. If either of them had been any less skeletal, it definitely wouldn't have worked.

It would have to do. Harry threw his trunk and bag inside, boosted the dog after it, and then climbed in himself. Not a moment after he shut the door, the trained lurched forward and began to move.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief. It had been close, but he had made it. The hollow he was in was cramped and hot, but he was used to tight spaces after his childhood.

The dog curled up against his side. Harry let out a tired laugh. "I suppose, if we are going to stay together, I can't just keep calling you dog."

It suddenly let out a sneeze, and then another, and then another.

Harry smiled "Too dusty for you? Do you have the Snuffles?" The dog glared at him and sneezed again.

"If you not going to admit it, I'll just have to call you Snuffles then."

Snuffles did not look entirely happy with his new name, but Harry thought it was perfect.

As the train moved forward, the heat in the tiny compartment began to increase rapidly. Suddenly, weariness overcame Harry as his long night caught up with him. He let out a long yawn, and curled up into Snuffles side.

In no time at all, both boy and dog were fast asleep.

* * *

The 1410 express between London and Surrey ran its route every day at 5 AM, 8 AM, 12 PM, and 4 PM. It was a round trip that lasted about an hour each direction with very little variety. Everything about the train screamed routine. Every morning, it filled with passengers heading from the suburbs to London to work in the skyscrapers and then filled with the same passengers riding the opposite direction at the end of the day back to their houses in the suburbs.

The experience on the train was the same every day with the same workers and conductors doing the same jobs and cracking the same jokes to the same passengers. One could conceivably set their watch by the train and a few of the workers had even done so. It was in every way, a normal boring train filled with normal boring people on its way to a normal boring place.

But today was going to be different.

Less than 10 minutes after the train had left the station at Surrey, it came to a sudden halt. Passengers looked up, annoyed that their commute was going to be interrupted. All along the train, the lights cut out.

One of the engineers, alarmed about a potential electrical problem, stood up from his seat.

With a sudden pop, a dozen men and women dressed in green robes appeared all along the train. As one, they all raised their wands and began to stun every person on the train. Some passengers screamed and dodged the first round of spells only to be brought down by the second or third wave. The engineer crumpled to the floor.

When they were sure they were not going to be observed, the wizards got down to business. They quickly, some would say frantically, began to tear apart the train looking for Sirius Black and Harry Potter.

They opened every compartment, every restroom, checked the baggage car and the conductors compartment; everywhere that could conceivably hold passengers. They even checked underneath the train, but they did not check the tiny unlocked compartment on the side.

They found nothing. Absolutely nothing

As a last ditch effort, one cast a magical signature detection spell.

"Sir, two magical signatures detected on the train."

His commander looked up sharply "Is one Potter?"

"Impossible to tell unless he casts a spell."

"We need hard evidence before we hold up Muggles any further. If we hold the train too long, it will affect the entire schedule and people will notice. Its probably just a pair of magicals riding into the city. We can't be here any longer. Restore order and clear the train."

The wizard who cast the original spell did not look happy about this order but complied. The Auror team moved up and down the train, quickly obliviating each of the passengers and the workers. With a nod, each of the wizards vanished in to thin air.

The lights flickered back to life. The train moved forward with a sudden motion, most of the riders jerking awake with the movement. The engineer was confused to find himself in a heap on the floor. The passengers of the 1410 express would go about the rest of their day without the slightest idea that they were just part of the largest manhunt in the history of Magical Britain.

In their compartment underneath the train, both Harry and Snuffles slept on, unaware of what happened as they sped towards Muggle London.

* * *

The train came to a sudden halt, jerking Harry from his sleep. For a terrifying second, he could not remember where he was or why his bedroom was so humid.

Slowly it all came back to him. Marge. The wall. The playground. Snuffles and the train.

Once the train came to a complete stop, Harry opened the tiny door to his compartment just a crack and peered out. Not seeing anyone, he pushed the door open and clambered out.

His cramped and sweaty legs sang in joy as he gave an almighty stretch. Harry reached back into the train, grabbed his trunk and lifted out Snuffles.

For the first time, he looked around. He was standing next to a deserted platform in another train station, almost identical to the first.

Thanking Merlin himself that everyone had left the train alone for the moment, Harry heaved himself onto the platform and limped over to the large map of the area that was posted on a nearby wall.

He frantically scanned the street names, hoping it wasn't too far away. He didn't know if he could go much further without eating something…

Just as he was starting to lose hope, he spotted it. Pennington Street was about two kilometers away from the station.

He could walk that. "Hopefully, the police don't get me for loitering" he thought idly.

As he set off, he realized that he was in an extremely nice neighborhood. It was the kind of place that the Dursley's would sell their life savings to be apart of.

All of the houses were much bigger and nicer than the ones on Privet Drive, made of brick or dark stone rather than cheap wood. They looked as though they would potentially have maids or gardeners that worked on them. No one on Privet Drive could ever dream of having workers for their homes. All of the driveways had Range Rovers or BMW's in them, sometimes multiple of each.

It was the kind of place that screamed normality far more than the Dursley's ever could. It made Harry, with his quadruple sized clothes, broken trainers, and dirt smeared face stand out like a sore thumb.

Thankfully, he finally came to 177 Pennington Place. It was a large two story house with brick siding and ivy growing up the sides. The roof was white washed wood. Through the downstairs window, he could see a room with rows and rows of books lining the walls. He smiled in spite of himself. This place screamed Hermione like nothing else he had ever seen.

He trudged his way up the walk and came to a stop at the front door. He reached for the doorbell and had a moment of panic.

Had he made a mistake by coming here? Was she going to turn him away or slam the door in face? What if she called the Ministry?

Realizing he had come this far, and had literally no other options, Harry reached out and rang the doorbell.

* * *

Hermione was just sitting down for her annual re-reading of _Pride and Prejudice _when the doorbell rang.

"That's odd" she thought to herself. Both her parents were at work and they hadn't told her to expect any packages. Nothing but packages ever came to the front door when she was here by herself. She set her book down on the arm of her chair and went to answer the door.

She peaked out of the curtains and gasped. Quickly undoing the lock, Hermione threw open the door to see one of her best friends, Harry Potter, standing on her porch.

He looked terrible. He was drowning in clothes that looked at least 4 sizes too big for him. One of the soles of his shoes had snapped off and was trailing behind him. His face, arms and hair were smeared in a thick black substance that smelled like motor oil. His trunk was bulging and tied shut with a frayed pink jump rope.

Harry's eyes drooped as if he hadn't slept in god knows how long. He swayed dangerously on his feet.

"Harry… my god what happened to you?"

"Hermione I need your help. I think I may have messed up."


	8. 177 Pennington Place

**AN: Sorry about the wait. Finals came up and took over my life. I promise to get the next chapter out faster. Sorry if this chapter is rough around the edges, its been written piecemeal over the past month. I promise more action in the next few chapters. This is the last chapter of summer build up before they go back to Hogwarts.**

Note: I don't own Harry Potter or the Avengers. Those belong to J.K Rowling and Disney respectively.

Chapter 7:

For a minute, Hermione just stared at him. Why was he…? How was he…? Her brain refused to work, couldn't figure out what she was seeing.

The silence on the porch stretched on. Harry began to fidget and refused to meet her eyes. A blush started to creep up his neck.

He had clearly made a mistake. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come…" he turned to leave when his right foot got caught on the jump rope. He stumbled and almost fell backwards down the steps.

This sudden motion jolted Hermione awake. "Harry! Come in, come in." She helped him up and practically shoved him inside the house. She attempted to shut the door only to be met with the growl of an angry black dog. It had a rough look about it as if it had been a stray for a long time. The dog had clearly come with Harry and was not going to be separated from him.

Not really seeing any choice, Hermione let the dog in and then shut the door. She turned and saw Harry looking around her living room with interest. She made her way towards him, determined to get some answers when she was stopped short by the smell.

Harry reeked like he had been forced to crawl though a flaming landfill. She gripped his shoulder and spun him towards the stairs.

"Hermione wha…" She couldn't respond because she was holding her breath.

She frog marched him up the stairs and into the guest bathroom with strict instructions not to come out until he smelled less like a sewer. She left a bundle of her father's clothes outside the door for him and headed back downstairs to wait.

The sound of the shower echoing down the stairs caused Hermione to let out a deep breath. She slumped further in her chair at the kitchen table and buried her head in her hands, letting out a quiet scream.

Having friends wasn't supposed to be THIS stressful. It had been much easier when it had just been her and her books…

Hermione was, for the first time in years, unsure of what to do next. She had been Harry's friend for almost two years and had been on many adventures with him. She knew him and knew how private and proud he was. He would never have just shown up at her door without telling her unless something was seriously wrong. That was way she was so shocked to see him at the door.

She knew he and his relatives had never had the best relationship, but this was something else. She needed to find out what had happened so she could help him.

"One thing is certain", Hermione thought with sudden clarity, "I'm not going to let him go anywhere. No matter what he did. No matter what he says."

She owed at least that much to her first ever friend.

The sound of the shower turning off shook her out of her thoughts.

Harry's soft footsteps on the stairs caused her to sit a little straighter in her chair. He rounded the corner of the stairs and padded into the kitchen, a small smile on his face. She rose slightly out of her chair to greet him.

Then all hell broke loose.

* * *

Harry had spent his all too brief time in the shower formulating a plan on how best to escape Hermione's house. He had clearly made a mistake by coming here, judging by how Hermione had reacted to him at the door. He could not intrude upon her anymore than necessary, especially if she was going to get caught in the trouble he was in with the ministry.

Once he got downstairs, he planned to gather his things as quickly as humanly possible while avoiding Hermione. He knew her well enough to know that he would not get away with no questions being lobbed at him, but he hoped to be able deflect her long enough to make it out the door.

As to where he would go after that… he didn't know. Maybe Diagon Alley so he could blend in with the crowds. The Ministry would be searching everywhere for him so they could snap his wand and expel him. He couldn't let that happen; no matter what happened next with the Stones, he needed his wand to live.

With a plan half formed in his mind, Harry dressed and gathered his things. Despite everything that was going on, he found himself wearing a grin. He was really happy to see Hermione, if only for a little while.

That happiness did not last long. As he entered the kitchen, Hermione stifled a scream. She shot to her feet so fast that her chair tumbled to the ground, a horrified expression on her face.

"What?!" He yelped "What happened?" She raised a shaking finger and pointed it at his face.

Harry ran over to the microwave and looked at his reflection. Where Marge had kicked his head, he now had a mass of multicolored bruises stretching across the entire side of his face down to his jaw. It looked like his head had been kicked by an angry horse. He hadn't seen it before because his face had been so caked with dirt and grime that it had covered it up.

He tried to turn back to Hermione, scrambling for an explanation, when a force hit him in the lower legs. Snuffles, having been attracted by Hermione's scream, was looking at him with an expression almost like fury. A growl was emanating from the back of his throat and his haunches were rising. Harry would have been worried he was going to be attacked if Snuffles hadn't been trying to cuddle as close to him as possible. With a start Harry realized that Snuffles wasn't mad at him but what had happened to his eye.

He finally managed to disentangle himself from Snuffles only to see Hermione staring at him. Only she no longer looked scared. She looked angry. Angrier than Harry had ever seen her, even worse than the time Ron had spilled gravy in her bag at dinner.

"What happened?" she whispered with a quiet fury. "What did they do to you?"

Harry didn't have a good answer for that, so he automatically fell back on instincts honed from years of living with his Uncle.

"I…uh… tripped while I was out for a walk."

Hermione snorted, but there was no humor in it. "Tripped into what? Hagrid wearing a steel toed boot?"

"I was trying to get home…"

"Let me cut you off right there. Despite what you may think Harry Potter, I'm not an idiot. I know you didn't do this to yourself. What happened?"

"I can't tell you."

"You can't tell… why not?"

"I just can't"

"Harry I can help you. You can't honestly be protecting them after they did this to you?"

Harry glared at her in frustration. Didn't she know anything? He couldn't just tell her. Ever since he had been a baby the Dursleys had drilled two lessons into his head: You take care of yourself because nobody is coming to help and that what happens in the house stays in the house.

"Nothing happened Hermione. I'm sorry to disappoint you."

This clearly was not an answer she was going to accept.

"Harry James Potter. I know things that can help you! I will not stand by and let my best friend be tossed around like a punching bag while I can help. Please LET ME HELP YOU." At some point she had started shouting.

Harry was about to retort when he felt something wet splash his face. As he raised a hand to his good eye, he realized, to his horror, that he had started crying at some point.

Hermione stopped mid rant when she heard him sniffle. Without warning, he started to buckle. She rushed forward to catch him only to find that he had thrown his arms around her neck. Great sobs racked his body.

With a start, Hermione realized that she had never seen him cry before. Suddenly he looked much less like someone who had killed a giant Basilisk and more like the very scared 13-year-old he was.

"It's OK. I am sorry I pushed you. You don't have to tell me." She soothed.

"Thank you, I just…"

"It's ok Harry. Tell me when you're ready. Can you tell me how you got here?"

After he had calmed down a bit, Harry told her the whole story starting from leaving his relatives house after doing magic, going to the playground, hiding under the train and then making his way to her front door.

After he was finished Hermione did not say anything. Harry could see she was bursting to ask questions but was holding herself back. She was choosing her next words carefully.

Finally she spoke. "Harry, I know you're not going to like this, but you need to contact Professor Dumbledore to let him know where you are."

His eyed widened in confusion. "You want me to be expelled?"

She shook her head. "I don't think they are going to expel you. Look at this." She picked up a copy of the Dailey Prophet that was sitting in the middle of the table. "This came while you were in the shower"

The front page of the paper was dominated by a picture of the destroyed Number 4. The headline screamed:

_Black Attacks!_

_By Brian Wolfcastle _

Late last night, a muggle house in Surrey was brutally attacked in daring fashion by Sirius Black. The house, which contained a wizard as well as four muggles, was partially destroyed in the fight. 

It is assumed that Black took the currently unknown wizard hostage and is on the run.

An unnamed Ministry insider is calling this the most brazen attack on muggles on British soil since the fall of He Who Must Not Be Named a decade ago. 

A reward is being offered to anyone with information on this case. More information on page 3.

Harry finished reading. "They think I'm being held hostage by this..." he checked the paper again "Sirius Black?" Unknown to either of them this statement caused Snuffles to stiffen and let out a low whine. Harry absently scratched him under the chin.

"They don't mention you or the Dursleys by name but yes it seems so. Harry you have to owl someone and let them know your safe. I do not think they will expel you. Your too well known and popular. And the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery includes a clause for self-defense, and you were certainly defending yourself."

Harry felt the fight go out of him. He didn't want to argue. He just wanted to sleep. "Do you have a quill and some parchment?"

He jotted a short note explaining that he had not been abducted and was safe at Hermione's parents' house. He addressed it to the Ministry of Magic. He then realized that Hedwig had not returned to him and he had no way to send the letter.

As if on cue, Hedwig chose that moment to swoop through the still open window and land on his shoulder. She gave his ear an affectionate nip before allowing him to tie the letter to her waiting leg. She took off back out the window.

He turned back to Hermione. "How long do you think before Dumbledore tries to break down your front door to get to me?"

She chuckled "Maybe an hour?"

He started to get up when he found himself smothered in a hug from Hermione.

"Thank you." She breathed

Harry stiffened. He couldn't remember ever being hugged before. He awkwardly patted her back until she let go

"Come on. You can wait with me in the library while I finish my book."

* * *

45 minutes later, a booming knock on the front door shook Harry from his nap. Hermione carefully marked her page and then went to answer it. Harry fingered his wand in his hand. He hoped they wouldn't try to take it from him but was prepared to fight to the best of his abilities if they did.

The headmaster's voice rang out. "Ms. Granger, delightful to see you. We believe that Harry is here."

"Yes professor, he's in the library. Follow me."

Professor Dumbledore entered the small room. He was wearing robes the color of pea soup, embroidered with stars on the hem. His eyes zeroed in on Harry. Harry shifted his body to hide his eye from them.

"Ah Harry my boy!" He clapped his hands in joy. "It is wonderful to see you whole and in one piece! We saw what became of your relatives house and feared the worst when you didn't turn up. Seeing you safe is a great burden off my shoulders. However, seeing you now we have to wonder…"

"What happened Mr. Potter" A voice spoke from behind Dumbledore. Harry had been so distracted by the headmaster that he had complete failed to see the two people standing behind Dumbledore.

One was a short, squat man with an overcoat and a lime green bowler hat on. He looked nervous to be there as he kept fidgeting and twitching. The other person was a no-nonsense looking woman with a monocle wearing dark red robes. She was the one who had spoken.

Seeing Harry's confusion at their presence, Dumbledore performed introductions. "Harry you haven't met these people yet. This is Amelia Bones, head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and Cornelius Fudge, the Minster of Magic."

Madam Bones cleared her throat. "Mr. Potter may I be the first to say it is wonderful to see that you are safe and unharmed. We have had almost the entire Ministry looking for you for the entire night. However, a very significant and dangerous piece of magic was performed at your house last night in front of and did damage to several muggles. We thought an adult wizard did it, but it appears you were the lone wizard in the house. Would you please explain how that happened?"

In lieu of an answer, Harry turned to fully face the trio. His mangled face elicited gasps from all of them.

"Mr. Potter did someone… do this to you?" Madam Bones asked. Harry wasn't going to answer when he felt a hand squeeze his arm. He saw Hermione standing behind him, trying to silently lend him her support.

Harry took a deep breath and nodded, not trusting himself to speak

Madam Bones looked disgusted. "And was this the reason you left your house?" Harry nodded again.

"Does this kind of treatment happen often Harry?"

"Not as often as it used to but yeah it happens." He replied quietly

"I see" Madam Bones said. "I have a niece your age and if someone did something like this to her…" She took a shaky breath. "This would appear to fall under the self-defense exception of the law so no charges will be pressed against you Mr. Potter. I hope you will accept our apologies that something like this happened on our watch."

She rounded on Dumbledore, with fury in her eyes. He had not said a word or moved since Harry had shown his bruise. "Dumbledore" she spat "assured us that your safety would be guaranteed where he put you. He swore it. We will have to do a thorough review of those defenses before we consider letting you set foot in that house again though."

Dumbledore went pale at this. He had used some very powerful, and very illegal, tracking spells on Privet Drive to keep tabs on Harry over the years. Spells that would not look good for his reputation if their use came to light.

She grabbed Dumbledore by the upper arm and practically dragged him to the door. "Ms. Granger, as we don't have alternate accommodations for Mr. Potter at the moment, would it be possible for him to stay here until school starts again?" Hermione frantically nodded.

"Good then it is decided. I will leave him in your capable hands then." She opened the door and guided Dumbledore and Fudge onto the porch. "We need to have a discussion _headmaster"_ she hissed as they all disappeared with a pop.

Harry shut the door and turned to Hermione. "That could have gone worse" she said brightly "Do you want to keep reading or do you want lunch first?"

"Hermione I…"

"No!" she said firmly "I know what you're going to say and you're not leaving Harry Potter. You're not a burden. You're going to stay here for the rest of the summer."

"But won't your parents have a problem with me staying here?"

"My parents having a problem with me having a friend over for the summer? They will be overjoyed I am not spending all my time by myself reading. Let me handle it."

* * *

Dan Granger was not a big fan of surprises. He preferred to live his life knowing all the facts so he could make plans. Act instead of react, that was his motto. That why the last thing he was expecting after a long day of work was to see a stranger sitting in kitchen chatting with daughter. The fact that it was a boy only made his suspicion grow.

He cleared his throat to get the attention of the teens. "Ahem, what's going on here Hermione?"

"Daddy! I was just telling Harry all about you guys."

"Harry? Your friend Harry from school? Doesn't he live in Surrey?"

"Yes, but I gave him our address in case he ever needed it. His only relatives haven't been treating him correctly so I told him he could come stay here with us until school starts. Can he Dad? Please?"

Dan did not like the look of the boy. He seemed like a troublemaker with beat up trainers and hair that went in every direction. His clothes seemed a few sizes too big for him. With a start, Dan realized they were his clothes from his drawer upstairs. His first instinct was to get this boy as far from his daughter as possible by throwing the boy onto the street.

"I don't know princess, let me talk to your mum."

"Talk to your mum about what?" Emma Granger said as she walked into the kitchen from getting the mail. "Who is this?" "Mum this is my best friend in the world Harry Potter. He needs a place to stay."

Hermione's mother raised an eyebrow. "The same Harry Potter from all your letters? All-you-ever-talk-about Harry Potter? The one who was missing at the end of last year?"

Hermione blushed. "Yeah that one." She said quickly. "He had an incident at home and needs a place to stay until school starts again. I told him he and his dog could stay in the guest bedroom until then. Please?"

Dan saw the large bruise on the side of the boys face and the look in his wife's eyes and knew that they would be having a house guest for the next several weeks.

"Alright Hermione, he can stay. But try not to spend all your time in the library huh?" Emma teased

The look in Hermione's eyes made Harry audibly gulp.


	9. An Almost Clue

**AN: This chapter was getting way too long so I split it into two** **chapters**.** The other half will be up soon**

Chapter 8:

Over the next several weeks, Harry fell into a comfortable routine at the Grangers. Every morning he would wake up and help make breakfast. After everyone had eaten, the elder Grangers went off to work and Harry took Snuffles for a walk around the neighborhood. When he got back, he sat at the kitchen table and worked on his homework. Once that was done, they took the rest of the day to either read, play games, or watch one of the many, many VHS tapes that the Grangers had.

After Hermione's parents got home in the evening, they would both make dinner and afterwards everyone would retire to the family room to watch TV or to their own individual hobbies in different parts of the house. After a few days, Harry learned that Dan was an avid woodworker and Emma made scented candles.

It was a normal, everyday life of the kind that Harry had never had before. At the Dursleys he had been little better than a slave who had never known kindness or decency. At Hogwarts, he was an anomaly, a living reminder of the death of a Dark Lord. Even at the Burrow, he was just Ron's best friend who just so happened to be the Boy Who Lived.

But here, he was just Harry, not special or treated differently than anyone else. He was expected to help with chores and pick up after himself like everyone else. It was wonderful. For the first time, he felt like really belonged somewhere and that people liked him for him not for being famous or important.

One benefit of living with Hermione, he quickly discovered, was that he had his summer homework done within a matter of days. And, because of the extra time and helpful comments, it was done well. Even Snape would have a hard finding fault with his essays. Harry may have even learned a thing or two more than he normally would have.

After all his homework was done, Harry found himself with a lot of free time. He devoted much of this time to his growing obsession: the study of Slytherin's writings on the Infinity Stones. Due to the massive amount of work he had been forced to do at the Dursleys, Harry had only managed to read about a quarter of the book. From the little that he managed to glean so far, the Stones were incredibly powerful magical artifacts. Far more powerful than any adult wizard he knew, including Voldemort.

If we wanted any chance of finding them, let alone using them in anyway, he needed to know exactly how they worked, and if he would die from picking one up. That's where the journal came in.

The first day that he pulled Slytherin's journal out of his trunk, he was incredibly nervous. It was not like Hermione to ignore a strange book, especially one someone else was holding. He half expected her to pull it out of his hands the moment he walked downstairs and start reading it. He had seen her mother do the same thing to Dan the other day after breakfast.

After Harry let Snuffles into the backyard to play with Rosie, Harry padded into the library with trepidation. Hermione didn't even look up from her novel as he moved past her and sat down.

Harry let out a breath he hadn't been aware of holding.

He found where he had left off and began to read.

* * *

The deeper he read into Slytherin's journal, the more intrigued that Harry became. These Infinity Stones were not just powerful magical devices, they were the most powerful that any of the Founders had ever come across. They could affect the pillars of Universe such as time, space and even the soul itself.

Slytherin even speculated that any of the stones individually could bypass the normal laws of Magic.

* * *

_April 7, 1017 AD_

_The magic of time has become one of the great riddles of our age. It has been speculated that wizards can only travel through time up to five hours with a Time Turner before they run the risk of creating paradoxes. I have witnessed fools who have attempted to travel back in time, only to never reappear or become hideously deformed. I am sure I have witnessed many more who have changed history to the point where I do not remember them. _

_Time is dangerous. Every great wizard knows this. _

_However, today I was able to use the Time Stone to travel back to meet my grandfather in the flesh and have a meal with him. I then went to meet his grandfather and his before him hundreds of years into the past. I attempted to return expecting the worst of consequences only to discover that my travel had disturbed nothing. _

_I later attempted this with a conventional Time Turner for reference only to fail. The use of the stone has allowed me to shatter one of the most fundamental rules of magic. _

_If it can do this, what else can it do? What could we do when we use more than one at once?_

* * *

Accounts like this one were littered throughout the pages of the journal. Salazar Slytherin personally witnessed incredible magic while studying the Stones, from mass transfiguration to the creation of miniature volcanoes that spewed milk.

He described visits to other worlds like a great void made entirely of mist and lightning. Another was populated by living candy people and a wizard who lived in a mountain of hollow ice with penguins.

Harry was captivated. Here, in the pages of this book, was more amazing magic than he suspected that he would ever learn in his entire Hogwarts career. Things that none of his teachers could even imagine let alone teach him. Things that would be seen as purely fictional, even in the wizarding world.

* * *

_28 December 1018 AD_

_This afternoon, we finally achieved a fundamental dream of wizards everywhere. I took to the air and flew. Not with a spell, broom, or animal transformation but under my own power. _

_The Reality Stone was able to give us wings sprouting out of our backs like angels. We soared for hours over the forest, the lake and the mountains, swooping and shrieking like children. Rowena and Helga raced each other while Godric tested the limits of how fast he could dive at the ground before he had to pull. I have seen much magic in my life, but this was truly something else._

_It was pure luck that the students had left the castle for the holidays, so we were not distributed. _

_After we grew bored with the air, we traded our wings for fins and gills and explored the lake with the agility of Mermen. Helga and Godric claim that they found a small village of water creatures, but I never found anything. They may have been pulling on my robes but who knows? Anything is possible now_

* * *

As the pages and years went on, Harry noticed a pattern. At first every entry in the journal seemed to be filled with new wonders and discoveries. The Founders appeared to be on the verge of changing magical research forever.

But slowly things changed.

Where Slytherin had once been full of optimism and camaraderie, his words now turned bitter and spiteful towards the other founders. The four frequently had loud and personal arguments that would interfere with classes and their research. They no longer freely shared their discoveries but instead hid secrets from each other. This divide grew greater and greater with each passing year slowly seeing the former friends grow further apart. Still they were at least able to act civil towards each other and run their school effectively.

And then tragedy struck.

* * *

_4 of September 1024 AD_

_Fate has seen fit to take my youngest son from me today. My dear Richard, who was not even four yet, was struck down by a violent strain of Spattergroit. I held his hand as he died_, _saw the light leave the eyes._

_No parent should have to live like this, feel this pain. Mere words on a page can never express the depth of sorrow that I feel. It is as if my soul has been extinguished and I feel nothing. Nothing can save me from this quiet hell._

_The light has left my life._

* * *

_8 of September 1024 AD_

_I will have my son back. If the world must burn, so be it._

* * *

This was where the writing stopped.

The next several sections of the book were all missing . The edges of the pages were jagged if they had been torn out in a great hurry.

Harry frantically flipped through the rest of the book, looking for something else. Anything else. That couldn't have been it.

But the rest of the pages were filled with incoherent scribbles, diagrams, and long complicated equations that he couldn't follow.

Several of the remaining pages were dominated by sketches of a large, jewel encrusted glove. Another page depicted an enormous bald man with scars and grooves running across his face. He was fighting a group of faceless, unidentified figures: a man with a pair of shields, another man with a large ax, a woman in a tight jumpsuit and what appeared to be a raccoon standing on two legs.

It was madness, all of it. Pure insanity.

With a sinking feeling, Harry realized that Slytherin had probably gone absolutely insane in his later years.

There were no other coherent entries. Whatever Slytherin did, he had destroyed all the evidence to cover it up. This was a dead end.

Harry threw the book on the ottoman in frustration, startling Hermione from her book. She looked at him in irritation.

"What did the book to do you?" snapped, annoyed at being interrupted.

Harry didn't answer her. As the book had hit the ottoman, he had seen something. A brief flash at the end of the book. He picked it up and flipped to the very last page. There at the very bottom of the page, squeezed underneath another equation in cramped handwriting, was a small paragraph.

* * *

_The Time Stone has been sealed away in the hidden library. High above yet underneath the world, it awaits you. Behind glass and next to bone, it hungers for someone to show their dedication to free it from its bonds. Seeker beware, that once you taste its power, everything else will fade away. Even in death we will never be free of its pull._

* * *

That was it. Five sentences. But it represented the first real lead that Harry had to finding one of them. And where one was, maybe others would follow. He read the paragraph again and again and again. Hoping that something would jump out at him. But nothing did.

He let out a sigh. Riddles had never been his strong suit. Even this almost clue was going to vex him. He would need to think this over carefully before he did anything else.

* * *

Over the last week of August, the riddle was never far from Harry's mind. The words were seared into his mind.

What library? How could it be both underground and high in the air? What kind of dedication would he need to show the stone? One day Harry grabbed a notepad and began to jot down all of his potential theories in a list. A pitiful half page later, he realized that he needed some help.

His first thought turned immediately to Hermione. After all, she was the brightest witch of her age and she lived in the room down the hall. She probably could figure out the riddle before lunch.

But he was hesitant to confide in her. It wasn't that Harry didn't trust her; he absolutely did. He would not be staying at her house if he didn't. But some part of him deep in his mind warned him that she wouldn't understand this. She would try to get someone else involved, and that was the last thing he wanted. Even telling Ron would be too far. He had some gut feeling that he was supposed to do this quest himself, find these Stones on his own.

But by the third day of thinking, Harry was growing a little desperate. The words seemed to be taunting him as they swam around the page. So he decided to ask Hermione in the most roundabout way possible, hoping she would take initiative and not ask questions.

He cornered her after dinner.

"Hey Hermione" he began, "I have a question I have been meaning to ask you. It's something that Professor Binns mentioned in one his lectures late last year. You know… when you were petrified" He cringed at the horrible lie.

As expected, Hermione's eyes light up at the mention of magical history. She had always wanted Harry to show some extra interest in the subject. "How can I help?" she asked eagerly?

"Last term, Binns mentioned that, during a goblin rebellion, two of the great hidden libraries of Europe was sacked and destroyed. I just wanted to know if there were any of those libraries left standing?"

Hermione cut him off sharply. "We studied Goblin Rebellions? And you didn't tell me?!"

Harry's heart froze for a second. "umm… we briefly went over them. More important things were going on at the time! Like the Chamber and the petrifying..."

Her face fell slightly as she remembered. "Oh right, there was that. I guess I'll have to study even harder to catch up then. I don't know about any hidden libraries off the top of my head. They wouldn't be very good at being hidden if we knew about them! But, when we get back, I can look it up in the library to see if there are any well known rumors. We could write an extra credit paper on them for Binns!" Her voice began to rise in pitch as she began to describe the different ways they would have to research this.

This was better than Harry could have hoped for. With Hermione on the case, he would have an alphabetized list of every magical library in Europe and their exact coordinates by the end of the week.

* * *

Three days before they were to return to Hogwarts, Harry tripped on the way to breakfast. The offending object that had snagged his foot appeared to be an old, tattered feather duster that was laying at the bottom of the stairs.

Upon closer inspection Harry realized that it wasn't a feather duster at all, but the Weasley's incredibly old owl Errol with a letter tied to his leg. He had flown in an open window in the living room but had passed out before he could made it up the stairs.

Harry carried the owl into the kitchen only to find Hermione pouring over a letter of her own.

"Harry! Our Hogwarts letters came today! About time too! I was thinking that they had forgotten them…what's that your holding?"

"Errol. He was at the bottom of the stairs."

He opened the letter and briefly scanned the contents. A grin formed on his face.

"Hey Hermione, listen to this! We have been invited to go shopping for school supplies with the Weasleys on the last day of summer. We would then stay at the Leaky Cauldron with them and all go to Platform 9 ¾ together the next day."

Hermione turned to her parents with pleading eyes. "Can we go Mum? Please?"

Dan and Emma shared a silent conversation. Dan took his gaze off the pancakes on the stove to look at her "That shouldn't be a problem. You need to get your school supplies somehow. Your mother and I want to spend as much time you as possible before you go away again so we will try to get someone to cover our clients that day."

Hermione let out a whoop and grabbed both of her parents for a hug. Somehow, Harry and Errol found themselves drawn into the middle of the pile as well. Overall, it was a happy kitchen that sat down to breakfast that day.

* * *

The morning of the 31st of August dawned earlier than Harry would have liked. He had been up late packing his trunk and preparing Snuffles to travel. He knew a dog was not on the list of approved animals for Hogwarts, but he didn't care. He had grown attached to him.

He would have to save some of his meals every day until Emma could send him some dog food and let him sleep in the common room during the day, but he could make it work.

Dan and Emma had been helping him prepare Snuffles for a few days. They bought a leash and collar for him. In addition, Dan had built and painted a kennel for him to travel in. There had also been the memorable occasion when they had taken the former stray to get all his shots before he left. Snuffles had looked particularly unhappy with this development and it had taken all four of them to wrestle him into the car to the vet.

Harry tried to pay the Grangers back for this, but they refused to hear it, saying that it was the least they could for Harry being such a good friend to their daughter.

After eating, Harry got the collar and went looking for his dog so they could go on one last walk around the neighborhood before they left. However, there was a problem.

Snuffles was gone.

Harry searched every room for him, but he was nowhere to be found. Even the backyard, where Snuffles like to lounge on the patio, was empty. Harry was sure that he had let him into the backyard last night, but couldn't remember seeing him after that. The entire family spread out and search the surrounding streets and yard but came up empty.

Eventually, it was time to leave to go to Diagon Alley.

As Harry picked up his trunk, he stared at the brightly colored kennel and collar in the corner. He felt a deep sadness inside him and a slight moisture in his eyes. He had become really attached to Snuffles. He had been there when Harry was at his lowest and now he was gone.

He loaded his trunk into the boot of the car and got in the backseat with Hedwig's cage. Emma shot him a small smile in the rear-view mirror and Hermione gave a supportive squeeze on his shoulder.

The car pulled out of the driveway and started towards London.

* * *

Behind a large tree on the other side of the street, a man watched the small sedan pull away. He wanted more than anything to be inside it with Harry but he knew he couldn't be. Not right now. If he tried to go onto that train in his dog form, he would set off all kinds of detection spells and be sent back to prison.

He could not be caught. Not yet. First, he had to make sure Harry was safe. If he happened to catch a rat while doing that, all the better in the end.

The man's form blurred, and a large black dog set off down the street.

Sirius Black was headed north.


	10. The Thing in Black

AN: Sorry about the wait. Life got crazy. I have had several messages about how people want the story to speed up. Time jumps are going to happen, but everything that is happening is important. Again this story is planned to go through at least 6th or 7th year so it will speed up. I am trying to write the story organically and time skips can only happen naturally. Just bear with me here. Again, action will happen when it happens and I promise it will be good.

**IMPORTANT: The bold section of text is a direct exert from book 3. I do not own those words, only JK Rowling does.**

Chapter 9:

It only took about 45 minutes for the Grangers plus one to reach downtown. They parked just off Abbey Road, about three blocks from the Leaky Cauldron.

A lot of people threw them strange looks walking down the street because both Harry and Hermione were dragging large trunks and Harry was carrying a caged owl. After a few minutes of walking, they arrived at the shabby pub. However, Hermione's parents walked right past the Leaky Cauldron, not even seeming to see it.

Hermione passed her trunk to Harry, grabbed them both by the arm and dragged them towards the door. They tried to shake her off until they were in the door frame when the enchantment seemed to lift.

"Well would you look at that. Didn't even see it." Dan muttered.

"How did you get in last year?" Harry asked Hermione as they entered the pub

"McGonagall connected us to the Floo for the afternoon. She said it was easier than…"

Whatever she was going to say was cut off as a large mass of red hair flew across the pub and plowed into Harry. From the vice like grip around his neck, it could only be one person.

"How are you Mrs. Weasley?" Harry gasped.

She beamed at him. "Harry dear, it's so wonderful to see you! Your looking far too thin though, we will have to feed you up tonight. We heard from Dumbledore about that nasty business with those Muggles that you live with. I wish we could have helped but that was right after we left, so the Burrow was empty."

Ron grinned at him from behind his mother. He seemed to have grow a few inches since Harry had last seen him and his nose was badly sunburned and peeling. "Mate! Thank Merlin you're here, I need someone else to talk to. Fred and George have been driving me mad ever since we came back and Ginny won't shut up about flying carpets."

Harry was confused. "Where were you?"

It was Ron's turn to be confused. "Egypt remember? Dad won the Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw? I sent you a letter for your birthday telling you about it?"

Harry did remember Hedwig bringing a letter and package from Ron on his last night at Privet Drive. He hadn't time to read it before Marge came and he made his escape. The Dursley's had probably burnt it in the back garden after he had left.

"Oh yeah, Egypt!" Harry said lamely. "How was it?" Fortunately, Ron didn't even seem to notice his hesitation. Not for the first time, Harry was glad his best friend was not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

As Harry and Ron lugged his trunk up to his room and settled in, Ron regaled him with a tale of all his Egyptian adventures starting from when they left the Burrow.

* * *

"…And mum made Fred and George open the door of the tomb. Otherwise Percy would probably still be stuck in there!"

When the boys returned back to the pub, they found that the large group had fragmented. Mr. Weasley had cornered Dan and Emma at a table and was interrogating them about the inner workings of a television. Hermione was attempting to meditate between them and trying not to laugh.

Mrs. Weasley was shouting at Fred and George about something they had done to Percy while Percy himself was sitting some distance away from them. To Harry, it looked as if he was sitting very gingerly on his chair. On his chest glinted a large Headboy badge that was hurling insults at him and producing a thick green goo.

Ginny was sitting quietly by herself, watching the bedlam unfold. When she caught sight of Harry, her entire face became the color of a tomato. She ran over to her mother's side and buried her face in her side.

For a minute Harry and Ron stood unnoticed in the middle of the chaos. He cleared his throat loudly causing every eye in the place to snap to him.

Mrs. Weasley gave the twins one final death glare before stepping towards Harry and Ron.

"All settled in dear? We should get shopping then. It's going to be an absolute mad house today, especially with buying supplies for 7. We will be at it all afternoon. Oh Percy, just leave the badge here and we will fix it later!"

The group allowed Mrs. Weasley to shepherd them into the courtyard behind the pub. Mr. Weasley tapped the appropriate bricks and the archway to Diagon Alley opened.

Harry grimaced. If anything, Mrs. Weasley had undersold how crowded it would be. The narrow alley was packed wall to wall with last minute student shoppers and their parents. It was so crowded that Harry couldn't see the other end of the street, only more people.

Harry looked to Mr. Weasley who shot him a sympathetic glance. "In you go Harry."

With a deep breath, the large group plunged into the crowds.

* * *

Several long and sweaty hours later saw the entire Weasley-Granger-Potter party seated around the largest table that the Leaky Cauldron had to offer. Everyone was exhausted both physically and mentally.

Harry was sitting between Hermione and Ron, attempting to ignore one of their legendary fights. Hermione's new cat Crookshanks, who was sitting in her lap, had jumped on Ron's head in The Magical Menagerie and clawed at his face. Ron swore that the cat was only trying to eat his rat Scabbers. Both sides had sniped at each and now were no longer speaking.

Dinner was delicious but far too short for Harry's liking. All too soon it was time for bed and the Grangers to leave. Harry and Hermione walked her parents to the door. Hermione threw her arms around her parents, promising to write.

Harry was at a loss of what to say. What do you to say to a couple who saved you from literally sleeping on the streets by taking you into their home? Thank you didn't seem sufficient. Emma saved him from this awkwardness by enveloping him in a hug which was soon joined by Dan.

"You're a good young man Harry" she whispered. "Stay safe and we will see you next summer" Dan nodded next to her.

They released him, and with one final wave, they were gone.

Harry had a weird tight feeling in his chest as he walked back to where the Weasleys were standing. Mrs. Weasley had an unreadable expression on her face as she stared at the spot where the Grangers had been.

"Ok you lot, up to bed. The Hogwarts Express leaves early in the morning."

Harry had barely sat down on his bed when Ron burst in and started throwing things around.

"Hey Harry, have you seen Scabber's rat tonic? That clerk said I was supposed to put it on every night before I went to bed and I can't find it."

After looking around for a few minutes, Ron decided to see if he left it in the bar. However, he was stopped in the hall by an irate Percy who demanded he help search their room for his missing badge. Seeing Ron's face go red, Harry volunteered to go down to the bar to look for the tonic in order to avoid an explosion.

He found it sitting underneath the table where they had dinner. He turned to go back upstairs when he heard the low voices of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley from a table in the corner.

"**But Harry will be perfectly safe at Hogwarts…"**

Hearing his own name, he decided to eavesdrop. He crouched behind a nearby pillar.

He could hear Mr. Weasley speaking in a low but urgent voice

"**We thought Azkaban was perfectly safe. If Black can break out of Azkaban, he can break into Hogwarts."**

** "But no one's really sure that Black's after Harry —" **

**There was a thud on wood, and Harry was sure Mr. Weasley had banged his fist on the table. **

"**Molly, how many times do I have to tell you? They didn't report it in the press because Fudge wanted it kept quiet, but Fudge went out to Azkaban the night Black escaped. The guards told Fudge that Blacks been talking in his sleep for a while now. Always the same words: 'He's at Hogwarts… he's at Hogwarts.' Black is deranged, Molly, and he wants Harry dead. If you ask me, he thinks murdering Harry will bring You-Know-Who back to power. Black lost everything the night Harry stopped You-Know-Who, and he's had twelve years alone in Azkaban to brood on that…**

A loud crash and shouting from upstairs cut off whatever Mr. Weasley was going to say next. Harry leaned closer and only managed to catch something about Dumbledore and guards. Suddenly the chairs scraped as the Weasley elders got up from the table and went upstairs.

For a long time, Harry crouched behind the pillar in the darkness, his mind whirling. An insane mass murderer had broken out of the most secure wizarding prison in the world with only one goal in mind: kill Harry for destroying his dark master as a baby.

It seemed that the year was already off to an interesting start.

* * *

Harry had to suppress a mental groan. It wouldn't be a trip on the Hogwarts Express without a little last-minute panic from the Wealseys.

The clock showed 10:57 as Harry emerged onto Platform 9 ¾. Already doors were swinging shut all along the train and children were leaning out of the windows to wave at their parents.

The twins and Ginny swung open the nearest door and leapt inside. Ron, Harry, Hermione and Percy began throwing luggage off the carts at top speed up to them. Just as Harry threw up the last bag, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

He looked to see Mr. Weasley. "Harry can I have a quick word? It's very important."

Harry was about to respond when the train's piercing whistle rang out. The trains wheels began to move.

He felt a hand grab the back of his shirt and physically pull him onto the train. He looked wildly around to see George smirking at him.

"Cutting it close there Mr. Potter? Can't miss the train two years in a row can we?" he asked in a cheeky voice

Mumbling his thanks, Harry grabbed his trunk from the floor. Fred and George informed them that Lee Jordan had gotten his hands on a Fanged Frisbee that sang show-tunes as it flew, and that they went off to see it for themselves. Ginny followed closely behind them, looking for her dorm mates. Harry, Ron and Hermione went to find a compartment.

Unfortunately, every single compartment was completely full. All that is except the very last one which only contained a man in a shabby looking robe. He was fast asleep in the corner nearest the window.

Harry was a little surprised. He had never seen an adult on the train besides the witch who manned the food cart. However, seeing no other options, they settled into the compartment.

"I wonder who that is?" Ron whispered as they sat down.

"Professor R.J Lupin." Hermione informed him.

He gave her a blank stare. "Do you know everything? Harry, how does she know everything?"

"It's on his suitcase Ronald. He must be the new Defense teacher." she huffed.

"How do you figure that?"

"Easy. There is only one spot open on the staff and its defense. I really hope he's better than Lockhart, though that won't be hard..."

"Your just upset you don't have anyone to gawk at during class any more."

Harry ignored Hermione's squawk of outrage. There was something… familiar about the man. Something he couldn't put his finger on. Harry was sure he had seen him somewhere before.

Eventually the sleeping man was all but forgotten as the train moved through the English countryside.

* * *

Several hours later, after the food witch had come and gone, the trio had settled into a comfortable silence. Harry had just lost a fifth game of chess to Ron and Hermione was reading one of the textbooks for her many new classes. Professor Lupin was still asleep in the corner.

Rain was coming down outside the train windows in great sheets.

Suddenly Hermione jumped as if she had been shocked. "Oh, Harry! I'm so sorry I completely forgot that I figured out your question!" She dove into her bag and extracted one of the many books with great difficulty and handed it to him. "I got this while we were in Diagon Alley yesterday and did a bit of light reading."

He felt his pulse quicken slightly. She had found a book on magical libraries.

Suddenly very interested, he flipped open the book and began to scan the pages. He realized Hermione was still talking.

"Of course, there are a fascinating number of secret libraries that are rumored to exist right here in Britain. Any one of them could be used for our paper. The Norman Collection, The Stone Manuscripts, Dead Man's Grotto, or Slytherin's Archive are just a few of the well-known rumors. Of course, none of them can be proven for sure without finding them but they are fascinating all the same! In fact…"

One of the names caught Harry's attention. "Hold on. Back up a minute. Slytherin's Archive? What's that?"

Ron, who up until this point had been staring with eyes glazed, jumped at the name. "Slytherin? Is another dark chamber fill with foul creatures? We only need one per year."

Hermione glared at him. "No actually Ronald, Slytherin's Archive is actually quite fascinating. It is rumored by some that, in the early days of Hogwarts, Slytherin collected a bunch of dangerous, powerful and rare books and artifacts and hid them somewhere on the grounds so no one could use them. He sealed it and when he left the school he took its location with him. Like a Library of Secrets. Despite centuries of searching, not one person has ever been able to find it. Just imagine all the rare information in such a… a… Harry are you alright?"

Harry froze, not even blinking. It didn't even look like he was breathing.

"You are such an idiot", he mentally berated himself.

All the pieces suddenly clicked into place at once. Why the room had not suffered any damage in so long, the weird feeling he got when he was in there, even the missing time.

It couldn't be, but it all made sense. If all the things Hermione had said were genuine, then it was the only place that made sense.

With a growing sense of triumph, Harry realized he knew where the Time Stone was hidden.

* * *

This feeling of triumph lasted only a few seconds before the lights suddenly cut out all along the train.

Panicked screams could be heard echoing from compartments on either side of them.

Slowly, the train drifted to a halt on the tracks. The pouring rain outside meant that visibility in their compartment was reduced to almost 0.

Ron peered out the window. "Why aren't we at the station?"

"We can't be close. We have at least another hour…"

The compartment door opened quickly. In the dark, it was impossible to see who it was. "Who's that?" Harry asked. "Its me" Neville's shaking voice replied. "Can I come in here with you lot? I was going to the bathroom and got locked out of my compartment."

They moved over to attempt to make room. The little group sat in silence for a few minutes before…

"Ow Neville, you stepped on my foot!" Ron hissed

"Sorry I…"

A loud clattering could be heard. "Ron! My books! Harry help me pick up my…"

The compartment door opened again. Ginny's voice now joined the others. "Ron? Harry? Hermione. I'm coming to sit with you lot. The girls in my compartment can't stop screaming and its bloody annoying."

The compartment wasn't designed to hold so many people. "Gin, I don't think we have room… OI Neville get off my foot…"

"Sorry, I'll just…oof" Neville attempt to move away from Ron towards the door was foiled when he tripped on one of Hermione's books and collided headfirst with the window with a loud thud. His flailing legs collided solidly with Ron's nose on the way down.

"Quiet" a new voice hissed, instantly silencing the noise. A wand lit up to reveal the face of professor Lupin, now fully awake.

His wand light illuminated a scene of utter chaos. A groaning and bruised Neville was laying almost on top of Hermione, who had been on the floor attempting to collect her books. Ron was jammed into the corner by the door with his knees drawn to his chest, missing one shoe and holding a bloody nose. Ginny appeared to have climbed into the luggage rack, her tiny frame easily fitting into an empty space. She was watching them with amusement.

"Why are you even doing up there?" Harry asked. "There was no more room on the floor." Ginny replied sharply.

Professor Lupin took a moment to compose himself. " Now then I…" Whatever he was going to say was cut off as a wave of icy cold rolled down the corridor.

Harry felt as if he had plunged into a tub of icy water. The chill wormed its way down to his bones and beyond. His breath plumed in front of him in a great cloud. A thin sheet of ice formed on the glass of the doorway.

The door to the corridor slowly rolled open with a click.

In the doorway was a thing of out a person's worst nightmares.

It was a tall figure hovering silently in the door frame. It was humanoid but its proportions were too long as if a person had been stretched out. Its long and scabbed hands the only thing visible underneath from its loose black robe. Harry couldn't see that it had any eyes, but he had a gut instinct that it was looking right at him. Its head swept back and forth as if it were looking for something.

Or someone.

The thing drew a long rattling breath that seemed to shake the windows. Harry felt as if all the air had been stolen from the room and driven right of his chest. No matter how much he tried, his lungs refused to work properly. Dimly he felt his knees give way. A older woman's voice began to scream right next to his ear as his vision began to dim. He could actually feel his eyes start to roll back up into his skull.

The last thing Harry remembered was a high, cruel laugh echoing around him as the creature slowly advanced towards him.

* * *

Harry once again woke to the feeling of scratchy sheets and the smell of antiseptic. He let out a groan. "What happened?"

Alerted by the noise, Madam Pomphrey bustled over. She forced two potions down his throat and was reaching for a third before she said anything "Glad to see you awake Mr. Potter so soon Mr. Potter. How do you think I feel? The school year hasn't even officially started yet and you have already paid me a visit. With a Dementor attack of all things! Mr. Weasley and Professor Lupin had to carry you up here."

"What's a Dementor?" She merely gave a huff and stalked away muttering to herself about irresponsible minsters and professors.

"A Dementor is one of the guards of Azkaban. It was on the train looking for Sirius Black." a quiet voice responded. Professor Lupin has slipped inside the wing while Harry had been distracted by Madam Pomphrey's fussing. "A Dementor is one of the foulest creatures known to wizarding kind. They feed on happy emotions and memories, leaving nothing but misery and madness behind. Sometimes, when a person is unprepared, the shock of being in one's presence can cause a person to faint. Even adult wizards can be caught unaware."

Madam Pomfrey was back "The good news is that you didn't suffer any ill effects from that Dementor. However, I could keep you overnight just to be 100% sure. You would be released in time for classes tomorrow, if that's what you want."

Harry shook his head wildly. He didn't even want to think of what Malfoy would say if he had to spend the entire first night of term in the hospital wing.

She sighed. "Very well. I'll have you do one thing before you leave though." Harry found himself being handed the largest slab of chocolate he had ever seen, more of a small boulder really. He was told to eat the entire thing before he could even think about moving.

"At least you weren't out for very long this time. If you hurry, Mr. Potter, you may even make the feast tonight."

* * *

Later that night, Harry was lying in his four-poster bed thinking about what had happened today. Not about the Dementor, or his fainting act that Malfoy had mimed all throughout dinner, or even the adult Grangers whom he missed terribly.

He was thinking about the Time Stone. He couldn't believe he had been so stupid. Hermione had given him the answer even though it should have been obvious.

Slytherin's Archive, where he had found the journal, was underneath the forest yet high above the Chamber of Secrets. In that room, behind Slytherin's desk was a small glass cabinet. He had overlooked it at the time because of the journal and his exhaustion but he could see it clearly in his mind's eye now: The cabinet had a variety of objects in it including a skull and a dagger that had a green stone embedded in the hilt.

A brightly glowing green stone.

The Time Stone was sitting underneath the Forbidden Forest, and had probably been there for almost 1,000 years.

Now he just had to make a plan to go get it.

* * *

AN: See if anyone can catch the quote from a famous Youtube group in this chapter. Please leave a review if you liked it.


	11. In For A Penny

Chapter 10:

"Something is different about Harry" Hermione pondered to herself.

It was almost the end of the first week of term had started and she had noticed that something had shifted in her best friend. It was nothing big or obvious but a lot of little things. She honestly doubted that anyone who wasn't as close to Harry as she was would even notice.

For example, he was much more quiet than he used to be. Harry was never the most talkative person to begin with but he used to at least comment on things or crack a joke every once in a while. Now he didn't speak unless he was directly spoken to or in class. All other times he sat quietly or could be found scribbling and drawing in a notebook he always had with him. Often he simply vanished for hours at a time. Despite frequent searches, she could never find where he went.

Another thing that bothered her was that Harry didn't appear to eat or sleep that often these days. He always appeared late to meals and left early after shoveling in his food as quickly as possible. In the common room at night, Harry was the last one up the stairs and the first one down in the morning. The deep bags under his eyes suggested that he didn't sleep even when he was in his bed.

When she asked him about this bizarre behavior, he claimed that he had been inspired by her this summer and simply wanted to get ahead in his studies and that she should be happy she finally had a study partner that would be able to keep up with her.

To the outside observer, it would look as if Harry had finally started to grow up a little and take his education more seriously. A large part of Hermione was absolutely thrilled and a little smug at this new change in him and her role in it. However, another part of her was growing concerned.

It was almost as if her friend was worried about something hunting him. Whenever he entered a room, his eyes darted back and forth as if looking for something. He walked quickly with a tight hold on his bag as if he were afraid of being stopped and searched by someone. He mumbled to himself when he was writing in his book, muttering quietly about defenses and traps like he was planning some kind of raid.

Yes, something was definitely wrong. And she was going to find out what, even if she had to tie him to a chair to do so.

Unfortunately, she didn't get much of a chance to talk to Harry the next day. After Potions he had vanished again. He wasn't at dinner or in the Common Room that night. He wasn't anywhere in the library. Ron reported that the curtains around his bed were tightly shut when he went to bed and when he woke up.

When he didn't show up at breakfast, Hermione grew frantic.

"It's 'ine 'ione" Ron grunted through a large portion of his breakfast.

She shot him a withering look. "Its not fine Ronald. He hasn't been seen yesterday afternoon. He could be missing or hurt!"

Thankfully Ron managed a titanic swallow before answering her. "If he was hurt, one of the teachers would have told us. Look if he isn't in Defense, we can go to McGonagall. Deal?"

Hermione couldn't find fault with this so she attempted to finish her oatmeal and fruit in piece. Somehow, it didn't taste as sweet as if had just a moment ago.

When they walked into their first DADA lesson of the year, they found Harry sitting in the front row, writing frantically on a piece of parchment.

She let out a breath she hadn't been aware that she was holding. She moved forward to yell at him and maybe shake him by the shoulders for good measure when he looked up at her and gave her the most brilliant smile. He looked exhausted but ecstatic as if he had won 2 Quidditch cups at once while Malfoy fell into a pile of dung.

"Where on Earth were you Harry? We were worried sick!"

"I think I figured it out Mione! I was reading a biography and found a first hand account by Slytherin's son! The study has traps but I figured out why they didn't activate last time! I came from below and not from above. They only activate if you come down from the forest! Now I only need to figure out counter hexes and its as good as mine!" he babbled

"Harry I have no idea what you're talking about. What study? What traps? What in Merlin's name are you talking about?" She slid into the seat next to him as the rest of the class shuffled in.

Harry regarded her for a long moment and slowly nodded as if he had made up his mind about something. He opened his mouth and began to speak…

Only to be cut off as Professor Lupin strolled into the room and shut the door with a loud bang.

"Good morning everyone. My name is Professor Remus Lupin and I am your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. For this year anyway. You can all put your books away, we are having a practical lesson today."

A ripple of excitement spread through the room. They had never had a practical lesson before if one didn't count Professor Lockhart's experiment with the Pixies.

"If everyone could follow me, we are heading to the staff room this morning."

The students trooped after Professor Lupin. Hermione chatted with Fay Dunbar about the Transfiguration homework and her new shoes until Lupin ushered them inside the staff room.

The room was empty except for their group. A large old fashioned wardrobe stood against the far wall. It rattled ominously.

"Now a large part of the Third Year Defense Curriculum has to do with identifying and defending against magical creatures. Who here can tell me what a Boggart is?"

Her hand shot into the air as did a blonde Slytherin's girls and, to her shock, Ron's.

"Ah, Mr. Weasley. What is a Boggart?"

"Uhh… it's a shapeshifter isn't it? It turns into your fears. We had one in the attic once and Mum wouldn't let us near it."

"Excellent, 10 points to Gryffindor. As Mr. Weasley put it, a Boggart is a shape shifter. It turns into the thing you are most afraid of in the world as a defense mechanism. They usually like to live in dark spaces such as desks, crawlspaces or this wardrobe here. Now who can tell me what we are doing here?"

Again, Hermione thrust her hand into the air.

"Ms. Granger?"

"We are going to face whatever comes out for us?"

"Exactly. In a way, you are going to face your fears. The best way to defend against a Boggart is to learn what it becomes when it encounters you and defend against it. There is a spell that will repel Boggarts that is very useful to know. Everyone repeat after me. _Riddikulus_."

The class practiced the words a few times, although Malfoy looked reluctant.

"Alright, now we can begin. Mr. Longbottom, you can be our first participant."

A look of pure terror appeared on Neville's face as he shakily moved to stand next to Lupin and the wardrobe.

"Now Neville, what are you afraid of?"

Neville mumbled something so softly that Lupin, who was standing right next to him, had to ask him to repeat it.

"Professor Snape."

Lupin chuckled. "Perfectly reasonable, Neville. Now I need you to come up with a way to make Professor Snape funny. Picture it in your mind. Laughter is key to defeating a Boggart. Do you have it?"

Neville nodded. Lupin gripped the handle of the wardrobe and pulled it open. Out of the darkness stepped Professor Snape himself. He fixed Neville with his trademarked glare and sneer.

Neville raised a shaking wand and incanted. "_R-Riddikulus_." He stuttered. Nothing happened. He tried again.

Suddenly Snape was wearing a witches day robe in a bright shade of yellow. He was clutching a large handbag and wearing a large purple hat with a large stuffed vulture on it. The class let out a stream of laughter at the sight of the hated professor. The creature hissed, fled back into the safety wardrobe and shut the door.

"Wonderful Neville!" He turned to the rest of the class with a huge smile on his face. "Now who is next?"

Over the next hour, over half of the class faced their fears. There were giant spiders, clowns, snakes, and even a mysterious giant trout that caused Lavender to almost faint from fright.

However, much to her disappointment, Lupin called them off before Hermione could take her turn.

"Sorry to cut everyone short, but I need the last few minutes of class to explain the project we will be doing this year. Over the course of this year, you and a partner will be doing a series of assignments that will build upon what you have learned in class. These assignments will culminate during your final exam in June."

Even before Lupin stopped talking, people were practically running across the room to partner up with their friends before someone else could pick them. Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione saw Ron practically sprinting at her.

"These partners have already been chosen." Lupin said to groans of disappointment. He pulled piece of parchment from his pocket. "When I call your names please go stand next to your partners."

He called a few names until he got to her. "Hermione Granger with Anthony Goldstein." Hermione was pleased. She had never had a conversation with Anthony, but he had a reputation as a hard worker. They would work well together.

Lupin went further and further down the list. Harry ended up paired with Susan Bones, Neville was paired with Lisa Turpin, and Parvarti was matched to Dean. Eventually there were only 4 students left: Malfoy, Ron, Lavender, and the blonde Slytherin girl who had put her hand up at the start of class.

"Well" Hermione reasoned, "at least being partnered with Lavender will force Ron to have to study. Heaven knows she can't do it herself."

"Draco Malfoy with Lavender Brown."

Hermione let out a slight sigh. Ron wasn't going to be happy about this.

Already Ron's face slowly turned pale. The girl's face turned an impressive shade of red and then almost purple.

"And of course, that leaves Daphne Greengrass with Ron Weasley. Now don't worry we won't really start in on these until after Halloween but its good to know your partners beforehand. 10 points to everyone who faced the Boggart. Class dismissed."

* * *

"I'm doomed" Ron moaned for what must have been the 50th time. Harry couldn't help but agree with him.

They were sitting in the Common Room in the chairs closest to the fire. They were supposed to be working on homework but keep getting distracted by Ron's misery.

Daphne had cornered Ron on their way out of the Great Hall after dinner. She had dragged him away to a corridor to "explain some of the facts of life" to her new partner. Harry hadn't heard exactly what was said but it was easy to hear Daphne's shouted voice from two corridors away. Ron had come back looking like someone had burned a stack of Firebolts in front of him. Ever since he had been in a funk.

"Honestly Ron. If you just keep up with your studies and do your share on the project won't have a problem with you." Hermione snapped, annoyed that he was distracting her.

He gave her a nasty look. "You don't get it Hermione. She threatened my…" He let out a shiver and subtly moved to cover himself.

Harry shivered but tried to focus on his homework. The sooner he was done, the sooner he could focus on building his plan.

Over the past week, he had devoted almost all of his waking hours to devising a plan to breach Slytherin's study to get to the Time Stone. He hadn't slept more than 3 hours a night and was barely eating. It was hell. However, slowly but surely it was paying off.

Just last night, he had deciphered a section of Slytherin's journal describing a concept for a one-way warding scheme on the study. If a person came in through the forest entrance the traps would activate but if they came through the Chamber they would not. That way Slytherin would not accidentally fall prey to his own traps.

However, he was working too hard, even he could tell. Hermione was starting to grow suspicious; he could see it in her eyes. Sooner or later she was going to corner him. But that was a problem for the future. Right now he needed to focus.

The trio worked in silence for close to an hour before Ron finally threw in the towel. He loudly got to his feet, stretched, put his books away, and went to take a shower.

Belatedly, Harry realized that he and Hermione were the only ones in the Common Room beyond a pair of 7th years sitting in the corner studying.

This was clearly the opportunity Hermione had been waiting for. She shut her book with a snap and looked expectantly at him.

"Harry we need to talk right now. What's been going on with you?"

Internally he bit back a curse. He hadn't been expecting this conversation to happen so soon.

"What do you mean?" he asked lamely. She fixed him with an unimpressed look.

"Where should I start? You disappearing for hours at a time every day? Your new obsession with that journal? How about how you are not eating? Or not sleeping? Oh Harry, I'm worried about you. What going on. And don't you dare lie to me and say its nothing?" she said, her voice raising at the end.

He paused for just a moment. Hermione could see the gears turning his head, weighing his answer.

"I'm just trying to study ahead. Like you said this year is the most difficult one yet and they are only going to get harder from here. If I don't change my study habits now I never will. I want to be able to keep up with you in class."

He could tell she wasn't thrilled with his answer but she didn't seem willing to stir a fight. Yet.

"Ok its just… don't burn yourself out. You need to eat and sleep. And take a break every once in a while. I know how that sounds coming from me but still. I haven't ever had a best friend before and need you to be OK. OK?"

His promises and affirmations seemed to reassure her a bit more.

"It's getting late. I'm going to bed." She gathered her things and walked to the bottom of the girl's staircase. She turned back to him. "You know… if you ever need anything. Please come to me. You can talk to me about anything."

Harry nodded, feeling touched. He could count on one hand the number of people who had ever genuinely cared about him.

She went up the stairs.

He waited a few minutes to make sure she was really gone. He then pulled out his notebook and the journal.

Harry hated lying to Hermione, but he had already decided he couldn't tell her the truth. Somethings were better kept secret. Also this was Hermione, the most fact driven person he knew. She would never believe him without proof. She would try to have him committed.

He pulled out the long list of spells he was going to need to know before he could go anywhere and grimaced.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Sirius ducked two more gunshots as he vaulted over a boulder and sprinted into the woods. He moved frantically down the path looking for any place he could hide and transform. Spying a large ditch, he threw himself down the steep incline and rolled to the bottom in an ungainly heap. His side screamed at him where he had collided with the door to the house. He ignored it.

Above him, the muggle farmer's footsteps got closer and closer. Sirius could head his deep breathing and the barking of dogs in the distance.

The farmer stopped just outside the ditch. He didn't dare move or even breathe.

"Next time, I'll put one through your skull you bastard! Stay off my land!" He heard the farmer turn and slowly amble back towards his house. Sirius waited he could no longer hear his footfalls before he let out a shaky breath.

And today had been going so well.

After he had left the Grangers, Padfoot had wandered into London with one goal in mind: Getting to Diagon Alley. He would be able to get desperately needed supplies before he would need to head north. It had been a bit of a trial finding the muggle entrance to the Leaky Cauldron. Growing up a pureblood, he had only used it a few times before.

Once he had found the tavern, it had been easy to sneak through the crowded pub during the lunch rush. Nobody looked twice at a familiar that was being sent to fetch things for its master. In fact, Tom even opened the arch for him.

Once he was on the Alley itself, it finally sunk in just how much shit he was in.

His own face was glowering from posters that were plastered across every shop window and free bit of wall. Large, blinking print informed him that he had a 10,000 Galleon bounty on his head. Aurors patrolled in teams of two up and down the alley, doing random security checks on passersby. A team of four wizards were stationed outside the front doors of Gringotts, doing detection spells on anyone who came in or out, obviously trying to catch an impostor.

His half-formed plan of trying to somehow get into his family vault immediately died. He would have to find another way of getting things he needed. Like decent robes, shoes and a wand. Everything else could wait.

In the end, he had only been able to get anything at all because of pure luck. He had been pacing the alley for a few hours looking for something when he noticed a young mother and her toddler sitting at a table outside Fortescue's. The toddler was pitching a minor tantrum because her chocolate ice cream had fallen onto the ground. The exasperated mother dropped her wand into her shopping bag and went to comfort the child. Sensing an opportunity, Padfoot moved a little closer. The mother was completely distracted, making shushing and cooing noises at the toddler. He crept even closer.

Suddenly the toddler stopped crying and her eyes grew wide. "Doggy!" she cried in glee. Padfoot clamped his jaws over the bag and sprinted down the alley. "Hey!" the mother cried.

She tried to give chase but she was no match for Padfoot's speed. He ducked under the legs of an Auror and turned the corner and raced into Knockturn alley. He heard her footsteps slowly grow dimmer and then faded completely.

Padfoot huddled in the deepest, darkest corner of the alley and turned back into Sirius. He rummaged through the bag. He pocketed the wand and a bag of Bertie Botts beans before he found the real prize: a brand new set of robes from Madam Malkin's. Yes they were women's robes but Sirius wasn't in a position to complain. He was just glad for the warmth.

After that things had been better for a while. He had managed to escape the alley, slipping right past the Aurors and shopkeepers, and make his way to back to Muggle London. He hitched a ride on the back of truck that took a few hours outside London. When it stopped he got out and started to walk north. He made surprisingly good time, London slowing falling behind. If he only could keep this pace, he would be at Hogwarts in a few weeks, maybe less

* * *

In the end, it was his stomach that betrayed him. He had been living on berries and river water for two weeks now and his stomach felt like it was eating itself. Padfoot could keep going for longer than Sirius could but even his dog form had limits.

He stumbled upon a decrepit farm house a few miles outside Birmingham. The house seemed to be empty and this would only take a few minutes. His stomach clenched at the thought of food in any form and before he knew it, he was unlocking the door with his borrowed wand. There was no one inside but there was a fully stocked fridge and cabinets full of food.

He inhaled two sandwiches, a packet of crisps, and part of a ham in record time. He was reaching for a third sandwich when he heard the door open.

"Ellen?" a male voice rang out. "Ellen is that you?" Sirius froze, a sandwich halfway to his mouth.

"Ellen?" His footsteps faded away as he moved through the house. All was silent. Sirius stuffed the rest of the sandwich in his mouth, grabbed an apple and started to inch towards the door

Suddenly a shotgun blast shattered the silence. The wood above Sirius's head splintered. He bolted for the door.

"Get back here you bastard!" the man roared. He fired again punching a massive hole in the wall where Sirius's head had just been. Sirius threw open the door and took off in a dead sprint, the farmer in hot pursuit.

* * *

It was finally the second week of October and the entire school had a party atmosphere at breakfast. Everyone even the professors, with the exception of Snape as usual, seemed to be in a joyous mood. For most older students, they were excited to be out of the castle for a few hours for the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year. For the third years, this excitement was double because this was their first trip to the legendary village.

The younger years were excited to hear wild tales about the village from the older students and to start planning how they would spend their time once they got to be old enough. Older siblings regaled their younger brothers and sisters with stories and promises to bring back lots of sweets from Honeydukes. Gossip flew back and forth about who had a crush on whom and what they were getting up to in the village.

But among all this, Harry was excited for a different reason. After more than a month of preparing, today was the day. He was going after the Time Stone today.

He was ready. Or at least he really hoped he was.

He had spent hours pouring over spells books in the library, looking for counter measures and detection spells. There was no record of what signature defenses Slytherin had favored in his ward schemes, so he had been forced to try to be prepared for anything. He tried a few of the more powerful spells he had found in an upper year text book but he hadn't quite gotten the hang of those yet. He had even spent time in Myrtle's bathroom, speaking to the carving on the faucet in Parseltongue, just in case he needed it.

He had even gotten lucky that he didn't have a signed Hogsmeade permission slip, which gave him a large period in which it would not be noticed if he disappeared for a while.

Everything had seemed to fall into place for him to go today.

He just needed one more thing, and he was hoping it came today. It had to come today. His whole plan depended on it.

**Three Weeks Earlier...**

"Professor Sinestra says a permanent keyed alarm ward is impossible to bypass because you can't can't walk, swim, fly or apparate through it. Its detects the life signs of a witch or wizard and will go off if anyone goes near it."

He and Hermione were sitting in the library once again, working on an essay for DADA about wards.

"But I think it's easy to get around." she continued

He cocked his head. "Ok, I'll bite. How do you get through it?"

"Don't you see its obvious. You send in something without a soul!"

Now he was confused. "What doesn't have a soul?"

"Why a robot obviously. If you send in a muggle bomb defusing robot, it could easily get past the wards. In fact, a lot of magical problems could be circumvented with the right muggle device. Like I said, witches and wizards don't have an ounce of logic or common sense. They think they are invincible with magic so they never think of things from a muggle point of view. Wizards are more powerful but muggles can adapt better."

Harry didn't have an answer to that so he went back to his books. Slowly they finished studying and the two walked back to the dorm. However, something was nagging at Harry, something she said.

Wizard's didn't understand muggle devices.

Slowly an idea formed in his mind, a small one. He didn't have to go around the traps, he could go through them. Not with magic but with something else.

Harry turned and walked quickly to the Owlery, hoping to make it before curfew. He had some letters to send.

**Now...**

That had been several weeks earlier, and his order still hadn't come. He had been assured by the Apothecary that it would take a while but this was getting nerve racking. If it didn't show up today, he would lose his window.

The rustling of owls shook him from his thoughts. Mail time. He looked up, searching for the distinctive plumage of Hedwig. She was easy to spot among the grays and browns of the school owls as she swooped down toward him. She attracted almost every eye in the hall as she settled in front of him, and for good reason. Clutched in her talons, was one of the oddest pieces of mail that had many at people Hogwarts had ever seen.

"Wazz at?" Ron mumbled through his eggs.

"Honestly Ron. It's a Styrofoam box. Muggles use them in shipping fragile materials. What's did you order Harry?"

Harry merely gave her a grin as he tore through his box and pushed aside packing peanuts, looking for…

Bingo.

He quickly pocketed the object, hoping that no one would see it. It was just as well that everyone was distracted by the sight of the strange box and packing peanuts. They were actually passing it around the table so that every could get a good look at it.

Harry didn't care. Now, he was ready.

As if on que, Ron stood up and declared "I'm ready. Let's go to Hogsmeade." As one, the Gryffindor third years stood up and began to practically run towards their dorms to get their bags and coats. The rest of the school quickly followed.

Ron and Hermione walked with Harry up to the tower. They were uncomfortable with leaving him behind and were trying to reassure him.

"I know your disappointed Harry but it really won't be that bad. Just think of it this way. You'll know all of the good spots when you come next year." Hermione said brightly.

"Yeah, mate we can go to Zonkos for you! Oh and we can bring you loads of butterbeer and candy from Honeydukes!" At the mention of Honeydukes Ron's eyes got glazed.

Harry assured them that he would be fine and that he would be appreciative for anything they could bring him. He walked with them to the front door where Filch was waiting with a list of students. He shot Harry a nasty glare when he apparently got too close to the door, and he took a step back. Ron and Hermione gave him one last look and then there were gone.

He made it seem as if he was walking towards the library, just in case anyone was following him, and then he cut back towards Gryffindor tower. He quickly moved through the common room and up to his empty dorm.

Harry grabbed his invisibility cloak and stuffed it in his bag. He let out a deep sigh.

He slowly walked back down to the first floor as to not look suspicious. He gave a quick hello to Professor Flitwick as he went.

He stopped in the corridor just off the entrance hall. He swung his cloak over his shoulders and walked towards the front door. Harry held his breath as he passed Filch, who was still checking students out.

Fortunately, the caretaker didn't even look in his direction as he was too busy menacing a pair of fourth years who had dirt on their shoes. Harry didn't understand why that mattered if they were LEAVING the school rather than coming in, but to Filch it apparently made perfect sense.

Harry quickly crossed the grounds until he came to the area of forest close to Hagrid's hut. He took one last look at the castle, and the stream of students heading out of the castle. He could just barely make out a person with flaming red hair walking down the lane.

He took another deep breath.

Showtime.

* * *

After several minutes of walking, Harry found himself once again in the clearing with the trapdoor. He took a moment to marvel at how well the door blended in with its surroundings. It was lucky that he had marked in someway or else he never would have found it again.

He heaved the large rock aside and pulled the door open. The tunnel was pitch black and a patch of cold air rose out. He shivered violently.

Some small part of his brain, the part that reacted violently in the presence of a Dementor, screamed at him to walk away and this tunnel was dangerous.

"Well, in for a penny in for a pound." Harry mutter quietly to himself.

He lit his wand and descended into the trap door.

* * *

The first sign of trouble came when the trapdoor shut and locked itself on its own. No matter how much he pushed the stubborn piece of wood wouldn't budge an inch.

Light flared from an unseen place, illuminating the stone walls of the short corridor. The curtains fluttered like beckoning fingers, trying him to draw him closer and closer. Seeing no other option, he entered the study. Somehow it looked different than before. Whereas before it had seemed homey and warm now there was a sinister quality to the air. The shadows from the fire cast sharp and menacing shadows on the walls. Even the air seemed cold and settled heavy in his lungs. He took a quick glance over his shoulder and was not surprised to see that the curtains had vanished leaving nothing but a blank stone wall behind.

Aware that he effectively walking in a mind field, Harry took a step forward. Nothing happened "Specialis Revelio!" he incanted. It was a very useful spell that would tell him if any spells were cast in the immediate area and what the general effects, if any, were. Seeing nothing, he took another step. Nothing happened again. Feeling slightly more confident, he took a third step, this towards the cabinet. He could see the bright green glow of the stone.

A light creaking sound was the only warning he got before a heavy book crashed into the side of his head, sending him to his knees. He looked up through a blurry haze of pain to see a legion of books rising from the chairs around him.

"Damn."

As one, the books pounced on him like a school of Piranhas, coming from all directions. "Impedimenta" Harry roared, stopping one of the books dead in its tracks. He cast it at another one, but there were too many books. By the time he stopped one, the spell wore off another one and it came back at him.

He dove behind the couch, but the books simply followed him. There was something wrong here. There was no way these books should be this heavy, they had to be enchanted. A large encyclopedia on magical creatures would have crushed his head if not for a quick roll. Another book hit him in the stomach, knocking the wind from him.

With a wince, Harry got to his feet and was almost decapitated by a fast moving dictionary.

Alright, he needed a new plan. If freezing them didn't work maybe fire would.

"Incendio" he growled, aiming at the nearest book. It burst into flames and disintegrated into a pile of ash. He cast again and again and was soon surrounded by a small mountain of ash. It was working, but too slowly. No matter how much he cast there was always another book ready to take its place. Some of the flaming books had even taken it upon themselves to launch themselves at him in a suicide attack.

Suddenly the floor began to tilt. To Harry's horror, he saw that the floor was being tilted in the direction of the now open trap door. A trap door that let into a several hundred-foot fall onto a hard stone floor.

The books attacked him with renewed vigor, each one forcing him backwards with the force of its strike. With a sinking feeling, Harry realized this was a two-part trap. The books were supposed to corral him backwards until the trap door opened and then they were going to force him over the edge.

He tried to burn as many books as possible, but more kept coming. Now the unnaturally heavy books were striking him every second in every part of his body. The floor kept getting steeper and slicker.

He felt something crack inside him as the books continued their onslaught. One struck him right in the mouth, snapping one of his teeth and causing him to spew blood. He was three steps away from the trapdoor, two steps away…

Suddenly his legs were taken out from under him and he was tipping over. He tried desperately to reach for something, anything at all. But there was nothing but air

And then Harry fell over the edge and into the darkness.


	12. The End of the Beginning

**A/N:** Sorry about the wait. To answer a question I got after the last chapter, the tunnel that Harry and Ron went down in COS completely collapsed after Ron, Lockhart, and Ginny escaped. It's unusable so Harry had to go through the forest.

UPDATE: I'm reposting this chapter so many times because it is apparently having a problem where people can't see the update. Somebody let me know if it eventually goes through.

Chapter 11:

The air stung Harry's eyes as he plummeted towards his death.

He could see the hard stone floor at the bottom of the staircase race closer and closer every second in the receding light of the trapdoor. Pure blind panic consumed him as he flailed and tried to move closer to a wall and grab on to something. Anything at all. There was nothing, only smooth stone sliding beneath his fingers.

Suddenly, his mind cleared as the adrenaline took over. He could still see the ground rushing towards him, but it was more distant now, as if he were watching it happen to someone else. His mind frantically sped through some of the spells he had learned, searching for something, anything that could save him. He seized on a spell that he found during one of his late-night study sessions, in a book on magical cattle ranching.

Without thinking, Harry rolled onto his back and pointed his wand towards the ceiling. "Laqueus" he bellowed.

A thick rope with a loop on the end shot out of his wand and quickly traveled up and out of sight into the darkness.

Still he fell ever faster towards the ground. Harry risked a glance over his shoulder and saw he was less than 100 feet from the ground. He closed his eyes and braced himself for a lot of pain.

The rope caught on something high above him and slammed Harry to a forceful stop. His left shoulder let out a howl of pain as it separated. The agony washed over him in waves, almost causing him to black out.

Slowly, he managed to overcome the pain enough to look around. He was dangling 50 feet in the air, directly above the hole at the bottom of the stairs.

For the first time in his life, Harry was glad that he was so skinny. If he had been any heavier, either the rope or his wand might have snapped and sent him to his death.

He gripped the rope with both hands and began to slowly and painfully swing himself towards the stairs. Unfortunately, it took longer than he would have liked. With each swing, he let out a low moan of agony as his shoulder screamed at him.

Finally, he managed to swing enough to get a grip on the staircase and pull himself up to a hunched over position on the wall. For a few minutes, all Harry did was crouch and try to get his heart rate under control.

He stumbled as best he could in the darkness to the bottom of the stairs and sat with his back to the smooth wall.

"Bloody hell" He swore.

He took stock of his condition. He had a multitude of bruises all over his body, a couple of his teeth were missing, and his shoulder was dislocated. The palms of his hands were covered in painful red rope burns. But nothing vitally important felt like it had broken besides his shoulder. He rummaged around in his bag and, to his great relief, saw that nothing had broken due to the cushioning charm he had placed on the bag this morning.

Harry let out a shaky breath. "Bloody hell" he repeated softly.

The minutes stretched on as he sat against the wall. The darkness was oppressive and pressed against him like a physical force. Slowly he felt the fear and self-pity inside of him harden into to annoyance and anger.

He had been so close; less than 20 feet from the Time Stone. That first trap had caught him off guard and caused him to forget all the spells he had memorized. What was worse was that he was defeated by books. Bloody books! Harry felt a scrap of indignation ignite in his chest. Books had almost killed him! Harry had been expecting dangerous magical creatures or spells that would cause his brain to explode and leak out of his ears. Those he could handle potentially dying against. But dying against the equivalent of the Hogwarts library? That he could not allow, would not allow.

Before he could stop himself, Harry jumped to his feet, gathered his bag and walked up the stairs once again.

"Books!" he shouted angrily into the darkness as he rose, his wand shining brightly. "Fucking books will not be the death of me!" He let out a cry that sounded half mad, even to his ears.

As he got closer and closer to the top again, Harry forcibly calmed himself down and began to review the spells he would need. Last time he had been to hasty, this time he was going to win. Harry began to review spells in his head for the upcoming battle. Impedimenta, Incendio, some kind of slowing or shredding charm? Something to prevent the books from ganging up on him again. He would not be caught off guard this time.

Finally, the trapdoor came into view. It had closed again and, as Harry discovered when he pushed against it, it had locked itself tight.

Harry cast the Unlocking charm on it. Nothing happened. He cast it again. Nothing happened. He sweated and shoved and rattled the handle for all it was worth. Nothing happened.

The anger returned in a white-hot wave, crashing through him. He had not come this far, spent weeks and a hundred galleons preparing, and been almost killed by a stack of books to be stopped by a locked door.

Screw careful, it was time for the hammer.

Harry retreated several steps downward, whipped his wand around and pointed it at the trap door. Harry forced all of his anger and pain out of his body, down his arm and into his wand. His wand grew to a blistering temperature in his hand and was vibrating madly.

"Bombarda." Harry hissed with all the force he could muster. For a moment, nothing happened.

Suddenly, the ancient and solid trap door split down the middle like a cheap toy. The entire doorframe and the stone surrounding it were demolished and blown upwards into the study. There was a massive boom and a cacophony of noises that echoed down to Harry. He could hear a rooster cry, wood breaking and crumbling, and the sound of heavy chains dragging across the floor. Slowly the noises grew quieter and quieter until they dwindled to nothing.

Harry poked his head through the now gaping hole and looked at his handwork. It appeared that pieces of the door had activated the rest of the traps when they had landed.

The entire study looked as it had been hit by an earthquake. Huge chunks were missing from the walls where pieces of metal shrapnel had come flying by. Bits of wood, metal and stone rained down from the ceiling like deadly confetti. The couch had gone flying and collided with a nearby wall, feathers spilling from the shredded pillows and cushions.

Heavy chains protruded from the inferno that was now the fireplace, clearly designed to drag an unsuspecting person into a fiery doom. One of the massive ceiling beams had sprouted teeth and dropped down obliterating the chairs and part of the desk. Spikes big enough to skewer Hagrid were jutting through the walls and floor. There were a multitude of shattered potion bottles that appeared to have rained down from the ceiling, spilled their multicolored contents across the floor, many of them eating through the wood. However, despite all this carnage, an ominous circle of undisturbed floor surrounded the cabinet holding the Time Stone.

Harry painfully climbed through the now gaping hole. From the rubble, several of the enchanted books rose, shook off their dust, and began to charge at him again. But he was ready for them this time.

Harry sidestepped the books and cast a bouncing hex on himself. He then sent out a barrage of cutting and blasting curses at the advancing army of literature. Any books that managed to reach him were simply reflected off his skin. It still hurt, but not nearly as much as it had before.

Soon Harry was surrounded by heaps of ashes and burning paper. He swept his wand across the room. Nothing else stirred.

He quickly made his way to the cabinet before anything else could happen, stepping around the spikes as he went.

He cast a diagnostic spell on the cabinet. It showed an absolute abundance of spells, most of which he did not recognize. If he cast anything more powerful than Lumos at this thing, it would fight back. Harry frowned and tried the handle, just to see if it would work. Not surprisingly, it remained locked.

From his bag, Harry pulled out his trump card: the vial of hydrofluoric acid that had been delivered to him that morning during breakfast. Carefully, Harry opened the vial and levitated some of the contents. He moved the mixture to each of the hinges and the lock itself.

"Well" he reflected to himself as he watched the acid eat through the front of the cabinet. "it's not just acid." He had wanted to be sure it would react, so he had the apothecary mix hydrofluoric acid together with Basilisk venom to create a super acid. It had cost him a lot more, but the salesperson had told that the mixture could eat through anything, Muggle or magical. And results were worth every knut. Hermione had given him the idea that day in the library. An ancient pureblood like Salazar Slytherin would have prepared for every kind of magical situation but probably hadn't even though of someone using a muggle solution to get past his traps.

Sure enough, the acid had soon done its job and the cabinet doors had fallen with a great crash.

Harry reached his hand into the cabinet, trying his best not to touch anything. This was harder than it seemed as the cabinet was stuffed to the brim with objects of all shapes and sizes. Shells, dolls, pictures, rocks, and scraps of cloth were just some of the hundreds of objects crowding the shelves. The dagger was sitting in the far back next to the skull and a set of delicately carved wooden figurines.

His fingertips were brushing the handle of the dagger, but his good arm was extended to its limit, all the way to the shoulder. He couldn't get it. Harry shifted his good arm reaching further and further into the cabinet. He stood on his tip toes, trying to give it an extra inch. He almost had it, almost, almost…

His arm brushed a small tripwire, no thicker than a spiderweb. Harry felt it give way and almost immediately a thick pink smoke began pouring out of the depths of the cabinet. Harry jerked himself back out of the cabinet and tried to put some distance between himself and the cloud. But it was too late. The smoke overwhelmed him, and everything went white.

* * *

Harry found himself laying on his back in a place that definitely wasn't the study. For one thing, the ground was solid dark wood, not carpeted, and there was no furniture around. For another thing, Harry couldn't remember the study containing a massive ink bottle and quill in the middle of the room.

He scrambled to his feet and craned his neck in an attempt to take in the full size of it. It stretched up and up, almost passing out of his view. It would take 4 or 5 of him holding hands in order to fully encircle it.

Harry couldn't comprehend why he was looking at a office supply the size of a skyscraper or why on he was here. But this ink bottle was much too big to be even magically expanded. It was almost like…

BOOM

Harry was knocked off his feet yet again by a wave of force. A wave of agony shot down his arm as he landed heavily on his injured shoulder. A muffled scream tore from his throat.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

Three more crashes caused Harry to whip his head around. Forgetting his pain, he rose to a tight crouch. Rising above him in a loose semi-circle were the carved wooden warriors that had been sitting next to the dagger. They all towered over him, each bigger than the mountain troll that had attacked them during his first year. All four clutched weapons in their hands: One had a scythe, another a , a third gripped a longbow and the final figure was holding a wand.

Each statute had a large forced grin painted on their face, like the kind a person would wear when they were forced to take a picture that they did not want to be a part of. Their eyes were painted on and stared blankly forward, somewhere above Harry's head.

Nothing moved, the air still. Harry didn't even trust himself to breathe. The statutes stared straight ahead with their lifeless eyes. Harry balanced on the balls of his feet. Years and years of Harry Hunting had taught him exactly what was going to happen next.

Harry took off at a dead sprint, hoping that he could find someplace to hide before the statutes got to him. Harry threw a glance over his shoulder and saw that the statues had not moved. He slowed and came to a stop.

They weren't chasing him, and they weren't attacking him yet. Huh, unexpected.

"This is a first for me. I don't know what to do when weird magical things don't attack me." He gave the closest statute a light kick.

A male voice sounded right in Harry's ear. "I have been expecting you.

Harry, who at this point in the day was starting to become immune to surprises, merely took a few steps back and gazed at the statues. They were emitting a brilliant light out of their eyes, which condensed into an image of a man in front of him. He was incredibly old and stooped, with his back bent like he was carrying a heavy box on his shoulders. He was completely bald, with liver spots dotting his scalp and neck. His eyes were clouded over with age, but still stared intently at Harry. He had a walking stick, that he was holding like a weapon. The man was dressed in extravagant robes of a brilliant dark green, with the insignia of Slytherin house stitched over his heart.

"Lord Slytherin." Harry muttered softly.

The image let out a scoff. "Hardly, boy. The real Slytherin died long ago. I am merely am imprint, left behind long ago in this place. Waiting."

"Waiting for what?" Harry asked.

Slytherin fixed him with a hard stare. "Waiting for you apparently."

"Me?"

"Not you specifically, you ignorant child. I was waiting for a seeker of the Stones to come to this place and claim the Time Stone. I must admit though, in all the times I pictured a seeker, I did not picture a child. You don't look like more than a third year. You found the Chamber and defeated my Basilisk? But here we are, despite the odds. You must have used some sort of reflection spell..."

Harry wasn't really listening to the apparition's rant. He was trying to process everything, and kept coming back to a stumbling block "How are you so alive? You're like a painting right?"

"Excuse me?! A what?!" Slytherin looked affronted. "I didn't mean to offend you!" Harry said quickly "But you seem to be a lot like a magical painting, that has the personality of a person. Your so much more like a real person than a painting though." Harry stepped forward without thinking and prodded the images stomach. Amazingly, it was solid

Slytherin swatted away his hand with a furious expression. "Slytherin imparted a small sliver of him soul into my construction. Much like a Horcrux, it leaves me as close to a living being as I can be without actually being alive. I was left here to serve as a guardian of this final trial."

"Trial? What trial?"

"You have proven your courage by slaying my Basilisk, your mind and your magic just by surviving to be here. Especially one so young. But these things do not equate with a person who is worthy, and an Infinity Stone cannot be allowed to fall into the hands of a person who will misuse it. The consequences of such an action would be unthinkable."

"And what happens if I'm not worthy?"

Slytherin simply inclined his head towards the massive statutes behind him, each with their own massive weapons ready to swing.

Harry swallowed hard. "Oh."

The older man gave him a sad smile. "Unfortunately, you appear to be worthy. While we have been talking, I have been investigating the recesses of your mind. Despite, your upbringing, your mind appears to be free of any evil intentions with the Stones. For now. Thus, by the rules of my creation, I must declare you worthy."

"But isn't that good?"

"This is not a happy day child!" he snapped at Harry "Gifting an Infinity Stone on anyone is an incredible burden, much less on a child. It is not a path that should be embarked upon lightly. It is a life of darkness and pain, where only the strong could survive. If you were smart, you would leave this place and never speak of it again."

He regarded Harry with a look of unmistakable pity.

"But that decision lies with you. My job is finally done, and I may rest at last. I reluctantly declare you WORTHY."

His last word seemed to echo around the space. Around Harry, the world began to dissipate into smoke once again. Slytherin locked eyes with Harry, even as they both began to dissolve. His face contained an unreadable expression. When he finally spoke, his voice was so low that Harry almost missed what he said.

"Good luck Harry Potter. You're going to need it."

* * *

When Harry could see again, he was once again standing in the middle of the destroyed study.

He peered down at the desk, and could see the ring of soldiers, once again the size of toys. Predictably, there was no sign of the imprint of Slytherin anywhere.

He looked to the cabinet which was now entirely empty aside from the brightly glowing Time Stone, sitting alone on the middlemost shelf.

It couldn't be that easy could it? Harry reached a hand towards it and was almost pushed back by the intense energy coming off of it. It was like he was putting his through a pane of glass.

Finally, Harry placed his hand around the Time Stone and picked it up.

For the rest of his life, Harry would never be ever to accurately describe what it was like to touch an Infinity Stone for the first time.

Power, pure raw power, shot out of the stone, down his arm and into his chest. Green lighting poured out of his body, striking the already heavily damaged walls and floor. The desk was reduced to splinters as it was shoved against the far wall by the force of the shock wave emanating from the stone.

Harry felt as if every cell in body was draining away, as if the Time Stone was literally wiping him out of existence. His entire being was reduced to the Stone and the pain from the hand that was connected to it. Harry wasn't aware he was screaming.

A series of images from a thousand different futures struck Harry's mind like a thunderclap, driving him to his knees. He saw himself standing in a ruined courtyard, locked into a duel with a pale figure with a slit for a nose. A large gathering of goblins gathered on the front steps of Gringotts in front of a massive crowd of kneeling children. An older Percy Weasley walking alone among the rows of a weathered graveyard, silently placing flowers on graves that bore his family name.

The images got faster and faster. Harry was sitting on a mountain of uprooted pine trees in the middle of a valley. A man with one arm faced off with against an army of masked men armed with crossbows. A version of Hermione with glowing scars across her face lugged a corpse down a dark city street.

It was too much. Harry's brain felt like it was pushing against the inside of his head, straining to get out. He literally had no coherent thoughts, his brain far too abused to do anything.

"No" a small voice that almost did not feel like his own, nearly silent against the pain, spoke up in the back of Harry's head. "You will not die this way." Something sparked deep in Harry's chest, his magic straining against the power of an Infinity Stone.

"No." It repeated the word again, a little louder this time. The pain reduced a little bit.

"NO." Harry screamed along with the voice. Suddenly, all at once, the stone stopped. The power retreated flowed back into the stone like water retreating down a drain. Harry slipped to the floor in a boneless heap, one hand clutched around the Time Stone.

Slowly, Harry began to take stock of what hurt. Everything from his head to the bottom of his feet felt like it had been deep fried and then run over by a herd of centaurs. Even his hair ached, although he couldn't figure out how that one worked.

But despite the pain in his entire body, Harry only had eyes for the tiny green stone nestled safely in his palm. Whereas before the energy coming off it had felt hostile to him, now it felt warm and safe to him.

A smile crossed Harry's face.

One down, five to go.

* * *

**In another time and place… **

Deep within the heart of the Avengers compound, Natasha was asleep in her chair. This was not unusual, because she slept in this chair more often than she slept in her own bed three floors above. It was not a uncommon sight to see one of the other members of the team carrying her up to bed after another long night of lookout. Although, there were not many members of the team anymore. Not since the Infinity War.

If someone were to compare two pictures of Natasha before and after the Infinity War, they would see a woman who had been through hell and back. Even in her sleep, she looked to be expecting a blow. There were deep bag permanently etched below her eyes. Her shoulders had a permeant slump to them that had not been there before like she had a rock on her shoulders. Her once vibrant red hair was now streaked with gray.

Six years ago, the Avengers had thought they had won. Although Thanos had united all the Stones, Thor had struck a fatal blow. The Mad Titan was prevented from snapping his fingers, and thus trillions of lives were saved across the universe. It was a complete victory. The celebrations had lasted for weeks across every major city on earth and on planets across the Universe.

The only sticking point was Thanos's corpse had vanished, and with it the Infinity Stones on his wrist. Dr. Strange had determined that Thanos had accidently transported himself and the stones to another dimension in the moments before his death but was unable to determine which one it was due to the random nature of dimensional travel. After an intensive investigation, he declared the Stones to be completely gone from their universe.

Most of the Avengers, including Natasha herself, had thought this was a good thing. After all, the entire universe knew about the stones now and it was better that the temptation to use them be removed forever.

About six months passed, and life slowly began to return to what it was before. The team went their separate ways. Tony and Pepper announced that they were expecting a child to the delight of journalists around the world. Bruce left yet again this time to a gamma lab in order to "meet himself" whatever that meant, and Wanda disappeared off the coast of Africa after the death of Vision. It was not normal by any means, but it was her life.

And then it all started to come apart.

* * *

At first it started slowly. A few extra minutes in a day or maybe a street that was longer than it had a right to be. Small things that would have you shaking your head and promising to get more sleep at night. But they events kept happening. Slowly the oddities got larger and more dangerous. Entire city blocks in London and San Francisco had their populations age to death in a single afternoon. An outbreak of simultaneous seizures swept Australia and New Zealand, killing thousands and incapacitating thousands more. Whole towns just disappeared, to be replaced by empty fields or woods. Stories of the spirits of the dead rising in India.

Reports by the Guardians, and newly rediscovered ally Carol Danvers, claimed that the reports of oddities and disasters wasn't just confined to Earth but were being felt throughout the known Universe by every planet that they knew of.

And then Dr. Strange dropped the bomb shell at an emergency meeting. Their entire universe was slowly rotting around them because the Infinity Stones had been removed. They had acted as pillars to the very foundation of their reality, and had been suddenly yanked away leaving everything else to crumble to nothing.

Strange had started to talk them through his extremely complicated plan to save them all, but even as they began to prepare, it was too late.

New York was the first major city to be destroyed, the city crumbling into the sea after an earthquake and tsunami leveled everything in its path. They never recovered the body of Peter Parker, who was last seen trying to rescue civilians trapped on the roof of an apartment building in Harlem. Doctor Strange survived but Wong and his entire sanctum was wiped out.

Tony was never the same after New York.

Major volcanoes on every continent began to erupt continuously, rendering some coastal regions of the world uninhabitable. New Asgard was destroyed in one of these flash eruptions rending Thor once again homeless and without his people.

Late at night, muffled sobs and screams echoed from Thor's room to the entire compound.

A discolored fog rolled throughout San Francisco, rotting the flesh from random people's bones but somehow not killing them until days later. Hope had refused to leave Scott's side until the very end, even when he no longer had a hand to hold.

In the three years she had known her, Natasha had never seen Hope express even let out so much a chuckle or a smile.

And Clint… Clint was too painful to talk about. She would never forget the look on Laura's face when she heard about the news. Never.

During all of this horror, Natasha had been trapped inside uselessly reflecting on the bitter irony of their time: In the end Thanos may have given them a kinder end than what they had gotten. At least with his plan 50% of the population would have survived and it would have hopefully been painless for those who died. Now they had to slowly watch the Universe choke itself to death. And there was no cure for that.

Well, almost no cure. Strange, and to a lesser extent Tony, were obsessed with the idea that they could somehow find the stones and return them, and it would somehow fix everything. They spent weeks at a time locked away burning their ways though hundreds of plans that always failed. Always.

* * *

It was during one of these sessions that they had created the machine that Natasha was asleep in front of. Through a combination of magic and science that Natasha did not even pretend to understand, the machine was supposed to be a tracker that would locate the Stones in whatever other universe they were located in.

Each stone was represented by a different colored alert light and a readout on the main body of the machine. The idea was that the machine was supposed to light up and give them an idea of where exactly the stone was so they could go get it. Nobody had told her how exactly they were going to be able to cross into another universe so easily, but she was sure they were working on something.

The only problem was that the machines sensors picked up only worked whenever somebody used actively tried to use the Stones. And wherever they were, the damn things were dormant. So, for the past three years, the machine had remained stubbornly silent with not even so much as a peep being made from it.

Slowly, the other began to distance themselves from the experiment, deeming it a failure and moving onto other projects. The machine was banished to a dusty room in the sub-basement, destined to be forgotten.

Except Natasha hadn't forgotten it.

Every morning, she dragged herself in front of it, and stared at the dials until she fell asleep. She was determined to be useful in this one thing, to make sure she would never miss the lights if they ever activated.

Since the world had ended, there hadn't been a lot for her to do. She was not a genius, or a god or even a super solider. She was a spy in a world that no longer needed her skills. So this was how she felt like she was contributing. To make herself useful, she could watch a damn screen!

So, there she was, asleep after another long day of the apocalypse. She dreamed of nothing.

And then it happened. Across the room, the green light on the console suddenly blinked to life.


End file.
